THE VARSITY
Vol. CXXXIV, No. 01
University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880
12 August, 2013
Comment
Forestry prof blasts U of T over Back Campus: pg 11 Features
FROSH 2013
Whose frosh week is it anyway?
Be a student chef: pg 10 Arts
Students’ union, divisions clash over frosh kits and orientation planning Liza Agrba VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Opportunities for Mirvish Village: pg 12 Science Students host first ever U of T hackathon: pg 16 Sports
Varsity Blues summer recap: pg 17
Disputes between the University of Toronto Students’ Union (utsu) and divisional student councils have affected the planning of U of T’s orientation weeks for years. This year, the conflicts over frosh week are in part a continuation of disputes from throughout last year, which culminated in the Engineering Society (EngSoc) and Trinity College voting to divert all fees from the student union. Victoria College held a similar vote, in which students supported diverting fees, but the vote fell short of the required voter turnout. Frosh weeks at U of T are organized by each individual division however, traditionally divisions will cooperate to buy in bulk for items like frosh kits. In the past, the utsu has often provided frosh kits to all divisions. This year, four colleges — Trinity, St. Michael’s, Woodsworth, and New — join the EngSoc in refusing to purchase their frosh kits from the union; all other divisions are getting their frosh kits through the union. THREE YEARS OF DISPUTES OVER KITS This is not the first year in which colleges decided to opt out of utsu kits. Two years ago, the EngSoc was joined by St. Michael’s, Trinity, Innis, Woodsworth and University Colleges in opting out of the kits. Last year, even with a full subsidy, most college councils opted out of union kits. In past years, orientation coordinators have cited politically motivated material in kits as a reason not to purchase them. Two years ago, material that seemed to pit the union against U of T — most notably, that which negatively portrayed U of T President David Naylor — was of particular concern to orientation leaders who opted out of the kits. Multiple leaders also cited complaints from previous freshmen that the
frosh kits did not promote unified school spirit. In Trinity’s “Advisory Report on the Proposed utsu Referendum,” published in March of last year, it was explained that past frosh executives had not purchased kits in part because of a number of requirements imposed on colleges by the union. Requirements included that colleges guarantee their programming would not overlap with union programming and commit not to remove any items the union placed in the kits. Jonathan Warda, an orientation coordinator from Woodsworth, summed up the concerns of many colleges about the way information is presented in the kits: “We find it to be more beneficial to include Woodsworth College branded items rather than utsu or cfs branded items as frosh week is meant to orient students first and foremost with their home college.” DIVISIONS MAKING DIFFERENT PLANS This year, Mauricio Curbelo, president of EngSoc, told The Varsity that the decision to opt out this year reflects the society’s wider issues with the union. The core of the dispute, he said, is that EngSoc can provide better services for its students without the involvement of the union. Vivek Kesarwani, orientation chair for EngSoc echoed the sentiment, saying simply: “We wanted to see if we could run frosh week without the utsu.” Trinity College and St. Michael’s college would not say whether their decision to opt out of union kits was politically motivated. Both colleges expressed that, at this time, they have no intention of including union materials — such as the planner, water bottle, or flyers — in their kits. Meanwhile, Ryan Lamers, orientation coordinator for Innis College, which is using some union materials, said that his team had come to an agreement with the union that their kits would not include any politically motivated material that Innis deems not beneficial to its student base.
Jenny Pazio, orientation coordinator for Victoria, denied that any of their decisions are politically motivated. “We’re not going to do anything for political reasons. We want students to form their own opinions; any issues we have with the student union are being put aside for the interest of our students,” she said. Liz Wong, an orientation coordinator for University college, said that her team’s decision to purchase union kits has to do in large part with the fact that they are ethically produced. Craig Maniscalco, orientation coordinator for New, asserted that New has a good working relationship with the Union. He said that the decision to opt out of using their kits was purely in the interest of finding the most cost effective option. SOME STUDENTS wILL PAY TwIcE FOR KITS Innis, Victoria, University, and the University of Toronto Mississauga (utm) are contributing to the cost of their kits, while the remainder of the divisions will receive fully subsidized kits. utsu president Munib Sajjad stated that this model is a way to accommodate each division according to its needs, since smaller divisions have fewer resources. Lamers disagrees, arguing that some students end up paying for their kits twice — once through the utsu levy, which each member pays with their tuition, and again directly to the union. He argues that while smaller divisions have a smaller number of students, everyone pays the same fees, so there should be no difference in how much each division contributes to the cost of their kits. Several changes of plan during the summer Originally, the union was not going to provide kits for any divisions this year, and was set to reallocate money saved on subsidizing kits towards getting a better artist for the concert. “Due to lack of demand, the utsu [had] decided
CONTINUED PG 5
2
VARSITY NEWS
Vol. CXXXIV No. 1
news@thevarsity.ca
WHAT’S GOING ON
THE VARSITY
IN FROSH WEEK
VOL. CXXXIV No. 1
21 Sussex Avenue, Suite 306 Toronto, ON, M5S 1J6 Phone: 416-946-7600 www.thevarsity.ca
Course selection in tweets
Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Joshua Oliver
editor@thevarsity.ca
Production Manager Dan Seljak production@thevarsity.ca Managing Online Editor Murad Hemmadi
online@thevarsity.ca
Design Editor Shaquilla Singh
design@thevarsity.ca
Photo Editor Carolyn Levett
photo@thevarsity.ca
Senior Copy Editor Catherine Virelli
copy@thevarsity.ca
News Editor Zane Schwartz
news@thevarsity.ca
Comment Editor Alec Wilson
comment@thevarsity.ca
Features Editor Danielle Klein
features@thevarsity.ca
Arts & Culture Editor Sofa Luu
arts@thevarsity.ca
Science Editor Katrina Vogan
science@thevarsity.ca
Sports Editor Elizabeth Benn
sports@thevarsity.ca
Illustrations Editor Nancy Ji
illustration@thevarsity.ca
Video Editor Jamieson Wang
video@thevarsity.ca
Web Developer Natalie Morcos
web@thevarsity.ca
Associate Design Editor Vacant Associate Photo Editor Vacant Associate Copy Editor Vacant Associate News Editor Vacant Associate Comment Editor Vacant Associate Features Editor Vacant Associate A&C Editor Vacant Associate Science Editor Vacant Associate Sports Editor Vacant
Writers Abdullah Shihipar, Aisha Hassan, Alanna Lipson, Amanda Coletta, Andrew E. Johnson, Gaurav Gupta, Christine Jacob, Hope Caldi, Iris Robin, Jelena Djuric, JP Kaczur, Katrina Vogan, Liza Agrba, Madeline Klimek, Manor Oz, Michael Patterson, Nicolas Esper, Peter Nash, Rida Ali, Sarah Neidoba, Seemi Qaiser, Simon Capobianco, Susan Gordon, Teodora Avramov Copy Editors and Fact Checkers Catherine Virelli Elizabeth Benn Karen Li Katrina Vogan Laura Mitchell Lucy Genua Maggie Roe Murad Hemmadi Zane Schwartz Cover Shaquilla Singh
Photo and Illustration Alanna Lipson Carolyn Levett Nancy Ji Wendy Gu
Designers Inggrid Wibowo Joshua Oliver Mary Zhou Murad Hemmadi Shaquilla Singh
Business Office Business Manager Timothy Sharng
business@thevarsity.ca
Advertising Manager Victoria Marshall advertising@thevarsity.ca Advertising Executives Stephanie Lau stephanie@thevarsity.ca terence@thevarsity.ca Terence Leung vanessa@thevarsity.ca Vanessa Wen The Varsity is the University of Toronto's largest student newspaper, publishing since 1880. The Varsity has a circulation of 20,000, and is published by Varsity Publications Inc. It is printed by Master Web Inc. on recycled newsprint stock. Content © 2013 by The Varsity. All rights reserved. Any editorial inquiries and/or letters should be directed to the sections associated with them; emails listed above. The Varsity reserves the right to edit all submissions. Inquiries regarding ad sales can be made to ads@thevarsity.ca. ISSN: 0042-2789 Please recycle this issue after you are finished with it.
KATRINA @KATRINA_UOFT I’m a Neuroscience major unable to get into any actual Neuroscience courses. #UofT #CheersROSI —August 8, 2013 CONCERT Friday, September 6, 4 pm to 8 pm, artist tbd, location tbd PARADE Friday Sept 6 th 2:30pm to 4:00pm, parade mustering location TBD ROM WALKS Free walking tours of historical Toronto Sunday Sept 4 – Along the Front 6 pm Sunday Sept 8 – Necropolis 2 pm www.rom.on.ca VEGETARIAN FOOD FESTIVAL Over 100 vendors, free entry Sept 6-8 Harbourfront 235 Queens Quay West, TO festival.veg.ca
CLUB NIGHT#ALTERNATIVE AFTER PARTY Friday Sept 6th 9 am to 2 pm, Guvernment night club/Front Campus CLUBS FAIR Wednesday, September 4th - 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, King’s College Circle TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Sept 5 – 15 Many theatres within walking distance of campus www.tiff.net/thefestival
Summer Crime Stats
100 57 37 6 1 3 1 1 2 4
Tresspasses Thefts
Mischief
Property Damage
Assault Elevator Entrapments Missing Person Suspicious Vehicle Harassment
Threats
82 1 9 6 10 6 1 2 1 2
MIRAY BEDROS @MBEDROS You’d think increasing enrollment space would be the logical thing to do when there are 100+ people waitlisted for a course but not at #uoft — August 8 , 2013
ANGELO GIO MATEO @ANGELOGIOMATEO There is only one thing that can unite the belligerent factions of #UofT campus politics: the common hatred of ROSI. — August 8, 2013
KENDRA KNOLL @KJKNOLL
May 31–August 8
In a moment of (temporary?) insanity, I just re-registered as a #UofT student — August 9, 2013
Emergency Phone False Fire Alarm
Dispute
Best of The Summer
Noise Compalints
Liquor Offenses
Break and Enter
Fraud Domestic Indicdents
BENJAMIN LEVIN “HAS CEASED ALL UNIVERSITY ACTIVITIES”
http://var.st/b7a
FOREIGN SERVICE STRIKE DELAYING STUDENT VISAS
http://var.st/b76
ACCESS COPYRIGHT DEAL MOVES TO NEGOTIATION
http://var.st/b74
NEW PROGRAM TO FUND FORMER CROWN WARDS ATTENDING UNIVERSITY
http://var.st/b7r
Motor Vehicle Accident
GOVERNING COUNCIL POSTPONES APPROVAL OF STUDENT COMMONS
Breach of Probation
CITY COUNCIL VOTES AGAINST DESIGNATING BACK CAMPUS AS HERITAGE SITE
http://var.st/b6i
http://var.st/b5i
VARSITY NEWS
var.st/news
MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 2013
3
Chief librarian announces draft five-year strategic plan Proposal would expand Personal Librarian program Hope Caldi
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
University of Toronto Libraries released a working draft of their 2013–2018 strategic plan “Charting the Future” on August 1. U of T’s library system is the largest in Canada, and the third-largest in North America. Over the next five years U of T intends to expand the existing collection — both physically and digitally — as well as attempting to locate new revenue streams. The draft was created following months of consultations with faculty, students, and staff. While the plan is now going through a second round of consultation to determine more specific implementation goals, some of what U of T students can expect from the library system is already clear. The Personal Librarian Program (plp), will be expanded over the coming years, following a pilot project that ran last year. The plp was adapted from a similar program at Yale University. At Yale, every first- and second -year student is matched with an individual librarian. The hope is that by providing new students with a name and a direct way to contact someone, they will be more likely to benefit from the research and other assistance a librarian can offer. The director of undergraduate programs at the Yale University Library Emily Horning, said the response to the program, running since 2007, has been overwhelmingly positive. According to Horn-
ing, of the 2,700 students who have access to the program annually, only 10-20 per cent typically contact their assigned librarian. In Yale’s case, 40 librarians a year take on an extra 4–6 hours weekly to accommodate the program, no staff were hired to handle the additional work load, explained Horning, noting that the programs benefits extend beyond connecting students with librarians: “the program is an effective tool for alumni/donor relations, in fact the Class of ‘77 has just given us a generous gift to help support the program.” Chief Librarian Larry Alford described the U of T pilot as “quite successful” and said that it will be a priority for U of T in the coming years. Another notable development is the $42 million Robarts expansion plan, drawn up over the past three years. U of T Libraries will continue to fundraise the remaining $22 million still needed for the 1200 student-seat project, which will be built on the Huron Street side of the mammoth building. New collaborative spaces for group study will be made available, as well as quiet areas where students can study independently. Alford calls U of T’s libraries a “national treasure,” highlighting the imperative for the Libraries to figure out how to capture and curate digital data that can quickly move and seemingly disappear online, such as political and social media content from the Arab Spring. “Many libraries have the pamphlets from the French Revolution which are paper, you can trace the ideas and the changes of ideas,” said
Robarts library’s $44 million expansion plan is part of the five-year strategic plan. File photo: toM CARDoSo/the VARSity
Alford, “how that is going to happen with social and electronic communication is a big question.” Collaborating with other universities to expand U of T’s store of content that would otherwise be difficult to acquire is also part of the proposed five year plan. U of T has many partnerships around the world, a recent example being with Columbia University wherein its Tibetan and Buddhism collections are shared conjointly with U of T schol-
ars. These texts would otherwise be difficult to acquire as they are published in universities in Asia and exist in limited quantities. Preserving data from graduate students work is also a task that will be pursued more thoroughly. Much work that gets produced by graduate and PhD students doesn’t get properly stored at this time, unless it’s formally published. “We have a lot of the original data from the insulin studies by
Banting and Best, because we have their lab notes and lab notebooks,” said Alford, “For discoveries like that that are happening today, where is that data going to be preserved 30 or 40 years from now?” The detailed strategy for the University of Toronto Libraries will be released after several months of discussion on how to translate the broad themes in this draft into specific, achievable goals.
Victoria College’s Goldring Student Centre operational for this academic year Long-delayed centre will host student clubs, make space for displaced Faculty of Law Jelena Djuric
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
The long-awaited Goldring Student Centre, which cost a total of $23 million, will soon be fully accessible and operational, for both Victoria College and U of T students. “The Goldring Student Centre is the first building of its sort at Vic — one built solely for the purpose of enhancing the student experience outside of the classroom. It bridges the gap between administration and students, and puts involvement opportunities and student resources under one roof,” says Jelena Savic, president of the Victoria University Student Administrative Council (vusac). The Centre is located on Charles Street on the north edge of the Victoria College campus. In January, The Varsity reported that the opening of the Goldring Student Centre would be delayed to due to unforeseen
The Goldring Centre during construction. File photo: BeRnARDA GoSpiC/the VARSity
circumstances. The Centre’s delay was the source of significant controversy last year, with Victoria College issuing refunds to students when the original goal of having the centre open last year was not met. The delay resulted
in partial refunds for all students and full refunds for graduating students-who paid the fee for years without any access to the promised services. The delay had other, wide reaching effects including forcing the Faculty of
Law, which is undergoing its own renovations, to conduct classes elsewhere, after the Goldring Centre was unavailable for use. Law students will have access to classroom space in Goldring as of this year. The Law Faculty will be based at Victoria College while Flavelle House at 84 Queens Park Crescent undergoes construction. Although the contracting company Kenaidan Contracting Ltd officially handed over Goldring to Victoria College in March, construction has been going on throughout the summer. The building is now being partially used, and both Savic and Victoria college bursar Ray deSouza said the plan is for all work to be completed by the second week of August. While the main construction of the building has been completed, the outdoor quad between the Margaret Addison residence, the all-female Annesley residence, and the centre is undergoing landscape work.
The usage of student space for clubs and levies will be mandated by the Victoria College administration in conjunction with vusac. Preference for booking space will be given to Victoria College clubs and groups. Victoria’s levied clubs — Victoria College Drama Society, Vic Pride, Victoria College Athletics Association, Commuter Dons, and the Victoria College Orientation team — will occupy office space alongside vusac. All Victoria College clubs and levies are permitted to use vusac meeting and work space. The Goldring Student Centre will house The Strand, Acta Victoriana, and the Vic yearbook, all of who will have access to the media room, along with other Vic clubs, and the rest of the student body. “We are confident that the Centre will provide the very best amenities available anywhere on the U of T campuses,” said deSouza.
VARSITY NEWS
Vol. CXXXIV No. 1
news@thevarsity.ca
Where does your money go? With students paying more in student fees every year, The Varsity examines some of the most controversial of them Christine Jacob and Gaurav Gupta VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
In addition to a minimum of $5,838 in tuition, all full time U of T students will pay student fees ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars. These fees subsidize everything from athletics to student unions and are generally designed to improve the overall university experience outside of the classroom. Some of these fees, however, have unclear names or mandates, while others raise sums of money that some feel exceed what they could reasonably be expected to do. Last February, the university stopped charging students seven ancillary fees, following an investigation led by the University of Toronto Students’ Union (utsu) which alleged the fees were illegal. The utsu maintains that there are still fees being charged to students which are not in compliance with the guidelines set out by either the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities (mctu) and also the U of T’s own policy on ancillary fees. U of T has consistently contested these claims. As a new school year begins, The Varsity analyzed eight of the most common fees, looking for clarity on what students pay for.
ROSI access fee: $100 per year Total levy: Approximately $8,089,900 in 2012–2013
Stu
This fee is paid by both undergraduate and graduate students towards the usage and maintenance of rosi, the online web service that facilitates course registration, and payment of tuition, among other services. Historically, the utsu has strongly contested this fee, claiming it is not in compliance with the mctu’s’ guidelines on ancillary fees. However, the fee was introduced before the guidelines were put in place, and so the university is not required to follow the guidelines. Common student concerns with rosi over the years include the lack of 24-hour access, temporary shut downs of the site during regular hours of operation, as well as incompatibility with some mobile phones.
am rogr P Life t % n de 21.8
UTSU-Student Commons: $14.90 per year, St. George students only Totaly levy: Approximately $2,240,000 since 2008 Students who paid the fee and have now graduated: Approximately 45,662
This fee is collected to fund the construction of a large, student-run community facility that would provide much-needed space for clubs, prayer, commuters, and much more. The utsu has been working towards making this ambitious dream a reality since 1965; however, it was recently delayed until political conflicts surrounding fee diversion between the colleges and utsu are resolved. The collection of this fee began in the summer of 2008, after the passing of a student referendum in November 2007. This referendum outlined construction fees as $10 a year until the opening of the Student Commons, and $28.50 thereafter for no more than 25 years. These values increase by up to 10% annually to account for inflation. The most recent delay has not halted the collection of student fees this year, and unlike Victoria College’s similar Goldring Center project, there are currently no plans to pay back fees to students who paid the fees without having access to the centre.
Access Copyright (CANCOPY): $27.50 per year Total levy: Approximately $2,224,722.5 in 2012–2013 These fees are paid towards The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency, a not-for-profit copyright collective that allows both students and faculty to photocopy sections from textbooks and other print works without having to first attain explicit permission from the author. This service comes into play most often for lab manuals and instructor handouts. The fee has been controversial lately as many universities such as the University of British Columbia, York, and Waterloo have chosen to opt out primarily on the basis of recent legal changes allowing much more to be copied by universities without payment. Student unions like the utsu and gsu have contested this fee as well, arguing that as this service is most often used by faculty, students should not be the ones covering it. The university’s current contract with Access Copyright ends on December 31 this year, and negotiations are ongoing.
Har tH o 13 % use
urance U Ins UTS
UTSU D
ent al 10.2 %
System access fee 8.2 % UTSU 5.6 % ASSU 1.6 % Student Commons 1.2 % Access Copyright 1.1 % Community Radio 0.6 % Varsity Publications 0.3 %
11.3 %
f U o 25.3 %
a s d n . y e
4
cs thleti A T
m h y y y w d f s s w d w s y h
Portion that have graduated before completion (25 %)
Total number of students that have contributed to the Student Commons Project
Student Life Program: $266.28 per year The Student Life Program provides students with academic counselling, mentorship, accessibility services, and workshops. According to their website, the program’s mission is to “bring coherence to complexity and create opportunities to build skills, foster community and integrate learning.” Assistant Vice President of Student Life Lucy Fromowitz stated that: “We in fact work with and serve a huge number of our students, and likely all students at the university use our services, most engaging with multiple departments.” According to Fromowitz, approximately 2,449 students registered with Accessibility Services, 26,000 students were registered at the Career Centre website and 12,000 students visited Health Services during the 2012-2013 school year. Student Life will be rolling out the Co-Curricular Record this fall, which is designed to streamline how extracurricular activities are recorded.
U of T athletics: $309.66 per year Total levy: Approximately $18,398,448.80 in 2012–2013 This fee covers membership at the Athletic Centre and Varsity Centre. The current fee structure allows almost every student to use these facilities, on a non-opt-out basis. Certain programs, such as the School of Theology, have dropped this compulsory fee altogether, allowing students to buy their own memberships at the normal rate if they want to use these facilities. Being a member of the Athletic Centre and Varsity Centre provides access to all sorts of drop-in classes, cardio machines, sports fields, seminars, and day lockers. Members can also partake in scheduled classes for an additional fee. Students not enrolled in summer courses do not have access to these services during the summer semester. A separate fee is required to access Hart House athletics facilities, which are currently accessible to students over the summer, although plans to change that for next year are in progress. UTSU : $68.24 per year, St. George and UTM students only
of controversy for many years, with three colleges attempting to divert fees from the union claiming, among other things, that the fees paid toward the utsu go towards activist campaigns that do not represent the views of all students. In recent years, the salaries paid to utsu executives have been a source of controversy, with a student activist group, Stop The Salaries, raising concerns around both the salaries paid to union executives, which are in excess of $26,000 annually, and the salaries paid to unelected union staff, which the union does not disclose.
Arts and Science Students’ Union: $19 per year, arts and science students only Total levy: Approximately $856,672 in 2012-2013 The Arts and Science Students’ Union (assu) provides students with awards and bursaries, offers a past test and exam library, and assists students with academic appeals. The assu also supports all course unions, which vary widely in level of activity. While the assu has been largely controversy free over the past few years, some students have expressed dissatisfaction with the practices of course unions. Common complaints include course union elections in which students in other programs can vote, few events held throughout the year and lack of transparency about how money is spent. These complaints are generally limited to a small number of course unions, whereas many others are routinely praised by both administration and students alike.
Hart House: $158.78 per year Hart House provides students with free space for clubs, as well as study space, food services, the Hart House Theatre, and the Justina M. Barnicke Art Gallery. Hart House is physically located on the St. George campus, and the fees paid to Hart House by utm and utsc students were the source of controversy last year when current utsu President Munib Sajjad questioned whether utm and utsc students were getting adequate value. The fees paid by utm and utsc students are substantially lower, at $4.64 per year. Earlier this year, the Council on Student Service (coss) rejected increased funding for Hart House for the 2013-2014 school year. The university provides no funding for Hart House. Students cover 54% of the costs.
Portion that is covered by students (54 %)
Hart House’s total operating costs
Total levy: Approximately $1,350,000 in 2012-2013
According to the its website, the utsu “provide[s] a place for you to engage in the issues that matter to all of us as students; a place where we can build better, strong communities that are free from racism, sexism, queerphobia, ableism, and all forms of discrimination.” The utsu provides many services to students throughout the year, from free food during exam times to subsidized movie tickets, it also advocates on behalf of undergraduate students for lower tuition, and other activist campaigns. The utsu has been the source
Sources: ROSI and U of T Facts and Figures. Methods: Total levies do not include fees paid by summer students or accrued interest for those funds of which in whole or in part are approximate. Every effort has been made to verify totals. Figures are approximate. Figures based on assumption that one quarter of students graduate in each year, and may have been rounded.
VARSITY NEWS
var.st/news
Avoiding sky-high textbook costs Iris Robin VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
The University of Toronto predicts that the average undergraduate can expect to spend more than $1,000 on books and supplies per year. While this figure certainly varies depending on your area of study, it is not an exaggeration; the textbook for AST101, The Cosmic Perspective, for example, costs $132.95 new from the U of T Bookstore. It is small wonder that many students are looking at less expensive options — such as renting textbooks, or buying used. For some, perusing the used bookshelves at the U of T Bookstore is the extent of the bargain hunt. These second-hand texts are marked down, but subject to availability. Other students look to the Discount Textbooks Store, which sells new books with a five per cent discount on the price at the U of T Bookstore. Although the Discount Textbooks Store also stocks used volumes, availability is limited compared to the U of T Bookstore. There are also cost-effective ways to buy online; Amazon.ca prices The Cosmic Perspective at $21.27 used and $65 new. Websites such as the Toronto University Students’ Book Exchange (tusbe.com), which is undergoing maintenance but is scheduled to be up and running for September, as well as torbok.com and coursetexts.com offer even more savings. All three sites operate as user-friendly bulletin boards for textbook exchanges, and include students from other universities in Toronto. Prices are set at the seller’s discretion, and Torbok allows the seller to denote a ‘fixed’ or ‘negotiable’ price. On Torbook, The Cosmic Perspective is for sale from $15 up to $75. The University of Toronto Students’ Union (utsu) runs its own online book exchange, with membership restricted to full-time students at the U of T’s St. George and Mississauga campuses. The site requires a Canadian Federation of Students Services account and is less convenient than simply joining a group dedicated to connecting buyers and sellers via social media. The University of Toronto Textbook Exchange group on Facebook has over 4,000 members and receives new listings every day. However, it is less organized and more cumbersome than the tusbe and Torbok because of its lack of a search function. Due to the necessity of arranging a meeting with a complete stranger on an unfamiliar campus, first years may prefer to rent their textbooks. The U of T Bookstore’s rental scheme promises savings of up to 70 per cent. Under the scheme, readers are permitted to highlight words and phrases as well as write marginal notes, as long as the book is returned by the due date. The drawback is that there are fewer books, and payments are only accepted via credit card. If you are unable to rent a textbook, both the U of T Bookstore and the Discount Textbooks Store allow you to sell previously purchased books back to them at up to 50 per cent and 52.5 per cent of the original price respectively. The array of options mean that it is definitely possible to save on some, if not all, textbook purchases.
thevarsity.ca
MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 2013
UTMSU gave Blind Duck Pub $28,500
5
Donation part of multi-year turn support Teodora Avramov VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
In the 2011–2012 financial year, the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (utmsu) gave The Blind Duck pub $28,500. The Blind Duck Pub is a campus hub, a high-ceilinged, spacious restaurant that is designed to be a place for Mississauga students to eat, meet and study, in a comfortable setting. In the “Student Societies — Summary of 2011/2012 Auditors’ Opinions” report, David Newman — acting director of the Office of the Vice-Provost, Students — notes: “during the year, the Students’ Union advanced funds to the Blind Duck (Pub). On approval by the Board of Directors, the total advances of $28,500 (2011 - $Nil) have been written off.” The way that the money has been spent is unclear. Shane Madhani, general manager of The Blind Duck pub, emphasizes that the restaurant has overcome many obstacles in recent years, and the need for the money in the 2011-2012 fiscal year had several causes — among them, the loss of an independent liquor license. According to Madhani, “Revenue from liquor sales that used to go directly to the pub” now goes to the university, which holds the liquor license. Madhani also cited the rise of food prices in recent years as another obstacle for the restaurant, which needs to keep prices low to attract students. While Madhani is confident that the restaurant will not need financial assistance on the same scale as last year, he would not comment on whether the pub has already received some financial assistance this year. The restaurant is a subsidiary of the utmsu and has been financially supported by the union from time to time in recent years. In the 2010–2011 financial year, the restaurant received $15,656 from the utmsu. Walied Khogali, executive director of the utmsu, remembers the time before Madhani became manager in 2007 as a period where the pub faced significant problems. Prior to 2007, the restaurant consistently ran large deficits; Madhani claims these were around $200,000 per year. In the 2007-2008 year, drastic changes began to be implemented. The utmsu stepped in, holding focus groups with students and conducting an audit of the restaurant’s finances to see what needed to be changed. “We wanted The Blind Duck pub to operate like a lean machine,” Khogali says.
“FROSH KITS” CONTINUED FROM COVER to invest more money into other areas of Orientation,” said Sajjad. In addition, early in the planning stages of frosh week, EngSoc offered to bulk-purchase frosh materials for interested divisions through an alternate provider. Sajjad said that, to the union’s surprise, several smaller colleges and faculties expressed interest in their kits. Lamers was among the representatives who spoke up and argued that smaller divisions rely on union kits for financial reasons. Lamers added that he and a number of other representatives were concerned with where the money saved on kits would go if the union was not able to book a better artist, saying that they had failed to clarify where excess funds would be used. Sajjad claimed that $60 000 was spent on orientation kits last year, and approximately the same amount has been sent due to the “unforeseen interest.” In response to affordability concerns, the union made arrangements with Innis, Victoria, University, and the Faculties of Music, Architecture, Pharmacy, and Physical Education and Kinesiology, to subsidize and assemble their kits.
The Blind Duck’s restructuring included extended hours of operation. carolynn levett/tHe varsity
At the end of Madhani’s first year, The Blind Duck pub managed to break even. “It hasn’t been like that every single year since,” Madhani admits. Despite the occasional deficits, he says that many changes have been made in an attempt to ensure that high deficit numbers remain a thing of the past. There have been other changes over the years. Halal and vegetarian options were introduced to the menu to accommodate the diverse community at utm — so much so that the pub received a student complaint in 2012 requesting that it offer more non-halal food options. Today, 16 of the 35 options on The Blind Duck’s menu are alternatively available as halal, and 16 are vegetarian. Unpopular items were removed from the menu. Changes in the hours of operation for the restaurant was another significant move; today, the pub is open from 10:30 am–8:00 pm Monday through Wednesday, 10:30 am–7:00 pm on Thursday, and 10:30 am–4:00 pm on Friday, although hours are extended for pub nights. Before Madhani became general manager, the pub was
open from 9:00 am–5:00 pm each day of the week. Despite these changes, some students are still unsatisfied. In a letter to the editor of The Medium, utm’s student newspaper, entitled “Rage against the campus,” fourthyear student Sami Karaman expressed his disdain for The Blind Duck’s hours of operation. “Well it’s not that bad. I mean it’s probably open to midnight or something on Fridays, right? Wrong. The Blind Duck, that beautiful student sanctuary where I can forget about midterms and essays and have a nice, cold beer, closes at four in the afternoon on Fridays.” “One of the most important decisions that we made was to open our doors to the many different student organizations at utm,” Madhani recalls. The Blind Duck pub now hosts many events by different student associations including, “the Erindale Chinese Student’s Association and the Erindale Korean Students Association, to name a few,” says Madhani, adding that “many events have already been booked in anticipation of the school year.”
enGsoc BooKeD ParaDe PerMit BeFore tHe utsu Orientation coordinators also cited the annual orientation parade as a source of controversy this year. Normally, the parade is entitled “utsu Parade” and led by the union. This year, EngSoc attempted to book the permit for the parade before the union did. The confusion with the parade permit resulted in the establishment of a parade committee. Olivia Birch, a trained mediator, and an orientation coordinator for New College, chairs the committee. It consists of a team of parade marshals — one from each college and faculty. The parade is now to be called the “U of T Parade.” Birch said that the planning for the parade is now going smoothly, with all divisions working together cooperatively towards the goal of a spirited, inclusive event. Birch hopes future years will use the parade committee model. Curbelo believes the booking of the parade route has led to a more cooperative planning process for frosh week then in previous years. “I highly doubt the utsu would have been willing to modify any of their programming or allow it to be run collaboratively without some sort of external coercion.”
Curbelo added that the way the union is managing Homecoming parallels his original concerns about the parade. “I attended the first homecoming planning meeting to find out that the utsu has already decided on the date and the programming, and has already been approaching the university and making logistical arrangements. It does not appear there is a place for divisional student societies to meaningfully contribute, other than just to promote the event,” he said. Earlier this summer, student representatives from Engineering, Trinity and Victoria held a seven-hour negotiation session with the utsu, facilitated by law professor Brian Langille. No public change in bargaining position arose from the meeting, and outgoing Provost Cheryl Misak is planning a follow up meeting in the late summer. While most of the conflicts around frosh week are unlikely to be noticed by incoming students, some orientation coordinators are worried that the political turmoil will have practical effects for newcomers. “We all just want a safe orientation, and politics are making things difficult,” said Liz Wong of University College.
6
Vol. CXXXIV, No. 1
VARSITY NEWS
news@thevarsity.ca
Walmart in Kensington: calamity or cost-saver? The Varsity talks to students and store owners about the proposed development Sarah Niedoba
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Over the last several months, a debate has raged across Toronto concerning the merits of a Walmart near Kensington Market. Developer RioCan plans to install a 12,000 square-metre retail complex near the intersection of Bathurst and Nassau streets. The building will include several retail units: most notably, a two-storey Walmart. Kensington Market — a thriving community of local businesses — is only a few minutes’ walk from the proposed complex. The public’s response to the proposal has been largely negative, with an online petition against it, created by the group Friends of Kensington Market, garnering more than 88, 000 signatures to date. Certainly this petition reflects the views of many store owners within the market itself. “Nobody wants it here, nobody,” said Eric Sunbulian in an interview with The Varsity. Sunbulian has owned his store, Araz Impressions, for nearly thirty years, and feels his product — various flags from around the world — will not be threatened by the new retail complex. “We’ll be fine, but others won’t be, and we’re a community. It’s not good for all of us.” Elizabeth Manso, owner of local butcher shop Kensington Meats, agrees with Sunbulian. She believes it is possible that the additional parking and traffic generated by the new center could generate extra business for the market, but is unsure of how it will affect grocers and butchers such as herself. “I’m skeptical; I’m concerned that it will shut some businesses down,” she said, adding, “the meat shops, the cheese shops, the fresh fruit shops, that’s what’s gonna close down.” Manso believes that loyal customers would continue to support her
An opportunity for residents to voice their opposition to the arrival of Walmart. DENIS OSIPOV/THE VArSITy
and her business despite the opening of the big chain store. Her employee, Manuela Arajo, disagrees: “I may not, you may not, a few people from the market may not, but it’s convenience, and that’s who’s gonna shop there.” Kensington Market also hosts a large student community due to its affordable housing and proximity to U of T’s St. George Campus. “I think it’s a terrible idea,” said Jess Shane, a U of T student and Kensington resident. “It counters the long history of Kensington’s working-class roots — from the Jewish immigrants who came in the early 20th century to the Portuguese, then the American draft dodgers and Chinese immigrants, and, of course all the artists, activists, students. Kensington is such a special place in Toronto
because it has an eclectic, underground, and non-corporate feel. Customers feel that when they buy from the independent shops, they’re supporting local business and mom-and-pop owned stores.” The alteration of a neighbourhood that prizes itself on its local, unique connections, is something that Shane doesn’t want to see. “People aren’t just against Walmart, I think they’re just afraid that this will be the beginning of a corporate transformation that will destroy the market as we know it for good.” Not all students are dubious of the development’s potential benefits. Some students feel that Kensington Market, with its high-class artisan goods, is inaccessible to them, and that there aren’t enough grocery stores with afford-
able products in the area. Justin Lee, resident of the market and student at U of T, said that he doesn’t think the development will “make a huge difference,” noting that the new retail centre wouldn’t be in the market proper, but nearby. He went on to say that the market, while good for older, more talented cooks, isn’t necessarily geared towards students or student cooking. “I live in Kensington and I love it because it has a very lively atmosphere. The bars are always booming and the restaurants are kickass, but I’m not a huge fan of the actual “market” — I’m still a student and I don’t have time to cook gourmet stuff, you know?” Michael McGinnis, local resident and employee of Cheese Magic, is against the project for a number of reasons: not only does he feel the store would take business away from the store owners of Kensington, but he is also particularly opposed to the entire Walmart chain itself for its low-quality products and poor employee treatment. When asked how he felt about students who wanted options for cheaper groceries, he responded: “Students need to learn to budget better and learn to value fresh produce — instead of buying bad quality products en masse, they can buy fresh produce in smaller amounts and have the same amount of food for the same price.” He also maintains that Kensington grocers offer prices for fresh vegetables similar to what a consumer would find in chains such as Loblaws or Walmart. The city council has recently passed a oneyear freeze on construction on the stretch of Bathurst where the proposed building would be built, so the question is currently at a standstill; nevertheless Kensington residents, storeowners, and students alike will certainly have more to say if the project resurfaces.
Waverly may become student residence Developer proposes to turn historic hotel into 22-storey high-rise Aisha Hassan
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
The site of the iconic Hotel Waverly and of the music venue, The Silver Dollar Room, has joined the growing list of proposed developments in the Spadina-College area. Development company and building owner The Wynn Group hope to revitalise the area with a 22-storey student residence. Should both the application to amend the zoning bylaw on the site and the building plans be accepted, the proposed 14,676 square-metre building will include over 200 residential units for students in the upper 20 storeys. The first two storeys will be mixed-use, including a newly rebuilt Silver Dollar Room on the first level and a “boutique” fitness centre also owned and run by The Wynn Group on the second. The new building would also include three levels of underground parking and 200 bicycle parking spaces. Built in 1900, the Hotel Waverly is one of Toronto’s oldest running hotels and has stood on the corner of Spadina and College for more than 100 years. While it was once a place of luxury, the reputation and upkeep of the building has declined dramatically over the years. Paul Wynn, who has owned the building with his brother Jeff for over 20 years described the existing structure as, es-
sentially, a “fire-trap,” saying that most of the hotel is made out of wood, with steel structures, such as The Silver Dollar Room, added on over the years. Wynn says the new plans hope to cover one big area, sharing the same façade. The Wynn Group have been looking at redeveloping the area for over 10 years, and have spent years negotiating with City Council and the neighbouring CIBC building, now they think the time is finally right for a change. Last year, a condominium project on 245 College Street, also aimed at students, was rejected by City Council following an outcry from community groups. The developer appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board where the issue is currently in mediation, with a hearing scheduled for November. The 245 College proposal is different, Wynn says: “The College Street condominium was over three times the size of our proposal. We know we cannot do a condominium high rise in the area, not next to the Scott Mission, so our only alternative is to do student housing.” By building a student residence, Wynn hopes to alleviate the shortage of student housing in the area. Although specifically intended for U of T students, Wynn aims to attract all students in the area, stating, “Toronto has a need for student housing and we’re not looking for a big change; the building will have the same, independent
Silver Dollar Room, a small boutique fitness club…building student housing is a rational approach to the site. We’re not RioCan. We’re not bringing a Walmart to the neighbourhood.” While there may be objections to losing another historic Toronto building, Wynn hopes that by incorporating elements of the current building into the new, people will see the proposal as a positive change. Wynn intends to keep the Waverly name for the building, and The Silver Dollar Room will stay, with it’s iconic neon sign
displayed in front. “We’re looking to create a nicer streetscape specifically for the first three or four levels…We’re hoping the city will allow us to think outside the box and let us use the same canopy as we have right now,” says Wynn. When asked to comment on the proposed timeline, Wynn said he did not have a “crystal ball”, but “if Councillor Vaughan supports us publicly and at counsel then I would anticipate two to three years, as judging from past experience with him I would wager on a longer period.”
CArOLyN LEVETT/THE VArSITy
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
VAR.ST/COMMENT 12 AUGUST 2013 comment@thevarsity.ca
BREEN WILKINSON offers some advice for your first year var.st/comment
Trinity Western seeks to block enrollment of gay law students Religious institutions enjoy special privilege over individual rights Simon Capobianco VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
The Federation of Law Societies of Canada is considering whether to accredit the law school at Trinity Western University (twu). twu is a Christian school famous for a 2001 Supreme Court case in which the court controversially ruled that the British Columbia College of Teachers was wrong to reject the university's application for certification of its teachers' college. The university is once again facing opposition due to its Community Covenant — which forbids students from engaging in, among other things, homosexual intimacy. Leading the charge is prominent civil rights lawyer Clayton Ruby, who argues that since the new law school will be inaccessible to gays and lesbians, accrediting twu would impose a “queer quota” — arbitrarily limiting the number of gay Canadian lawyers. Disturbingly, Ruby’s defense of equal rights has come under attack in the mainstream media. The National Post’s Jonathan Kay has accused Ruby of a “narrow-minded crusade” against twu. He cites the 2001 ruling and denounces Ruby for trying “to get around this clear precedent with a new argument based on the claim that, if twu’s law school is accredited, the legal industry as a whole would then effectively be imposing a 'queer quota' on gay lawyers — despite the fact that Canada has almost two dozen other law schools, and that twu’s 60 first-year law-school slots would comprise less than two per cent of the country’s incoming law-school cohort.” Similarly, in the Vancouver Sun, Calgary lawyer John Carpay defends twu’s code of conduct by suggesting that, in addition to homosexuality, it also bans adultery and premarital sex. “Nobody is required to abide by these rules, unless a person voluntarily submits to them,” he argues. “Any student, whether gay or straight, who does not wish to abide by twu’s code of conduct is free to attend another university.” It should be deeply distressing to Canadians that such confused commentary is informing public opinion on a topic as important as equal rights. As will be clear to any unbiased observer, Carpay’s argument misses the
The Community Covenant of Trinity Western University in British Columbia forbids students from engaging in homosexual sexual intimacy. CONTRE NATURE1/FLICKR
point; no one is arguing that twu forces its code of conduct on the general public, or that homosexuality is the only thing proscribed by its covenant, or even that gays and lesbians will have no choice but to attend twu. What is being objected to is that in order to attend twu, gay and lesbian students will be forced to hide an integral part of their identities — which is an outrage in and of itself. If a proponent of an anti-semitic university were to protest that "nobody is required to take off his kippa, or tuck in his star of David necklace, or refrain from observing High Holidays unless he voluntarily chooses to attend our school," or that "any student, whether Jew or Gentile, who does not wish to abide by our (anti-semitic) code of conduct is free to attend another university," we would regard these arguments as below contempt.
Kay conveys a misunderstanding of equal rights; if there is a single space in a Canadian law school, medical school, barber’s college, or restaurant which is not available to all people, regardless of identity, it is a national disgrace — it does not matter how many other spaces in other institutions are available to these people. If a "whites only" law school were to open in Canada, would anyone care that we have “almost two-dozen other law schools” or that the first-year slots at this "whites only" school would “comprise less than two per cent of the country’s incoming law-school cohort?” Hardly. So why, when the institution seeking to discriminate is religiously-oriented, do such specious arguments appear in the mainstream press?
The Post’s Chris Selley outlines this argument in a recent column: “The mainstream reaction, if we discovered some hitherto unknown whites-only university in the b.c. interior,” he writes, “would be to shut the place down — not its law school, not its engineering faculty, the whole place.” Since there is “no moral difference between anti-gay discrimination and anti-black discrimination” he continues, “the only legal difference is that a religious freedom defense is far more likely in the first case than in the second.” Selley does, however, state that private universities should have the right to admit whomever they want. If twu was a secular institution, there would be no debate about whether to accredit
better and learn about their future goals.” As a soon-to-be graduate, I had many questions about potential career paths and relished the opportunity to speak with somebody who had a lifetime of industry experience. Pink comes from a background in journalism, and shared stories of his field work in India. He told us about what it takes to make it as a journalist and encouraged those who were interested to try their hand at freelance writing. “Building a portfolio is as simple as writing about your everyday experiences,” he said. Although we received some great career advice, one of the biggest benefits to come out of the evening was seen later, in class. Students who had formerly been tentative about participating in class were now eager to do so and engage with the material. Third-year student James Casaca said that: “the event broke down barriers that existed before, and I felt more
comfortable asking a question about something I didn’t quite understand in class.” These sorts of benefits can only come from increased interaction between faculty and students. We all know that U of T is a large university, and that it often has a large, institutional feel. Some 42,000 undergraduate students attend the St. George Campus every year. However, this does not mean that we cannot, on occasion, feel like a close community. One of the best ways this can happen is by simply getting to know the people we surround ourselves with on a daily basis. “I was impressed with the talent and diversity of our class,” said Pink, “people who do not express confidence in the young people of today only need to spend a little time with our class.”
CONTINUED PG 8
At a pub with a prof Nicolas Esper
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
How much time do you get to spend with your professor? You attend lectures every week, scribble pages of notes, and hope to complete your assignments on time. You might ask a question in class, chat a bit after a lecture, or even go speak with them during office hours. However, if you consider the amount of actual, one-on-one interaction you have with your professor, it is likely very little — if not non-existent. You can easily spend your entire undergraduate career without ever getting to know the person behind the podium. Given that separation, it is not often that you find yourself sharing stories with your professor over a pint of beer. However, on July 24, a group of students in a third-year international
law class, myself included, set out after lecture with their professor, Dr. Ross Michael Pink, to spend some time getting to know one another. It was an informal gathering on a Wednesday evening, set up by one of the students, which provided an opportunity to break free from our normal roles as students and professor. As we entered the pub and sat down, everyone seemed a bit nervous. Could I really order an Amsterdam Blonde in front of the person who would be marking my treaty report? Soon enough, formalities were dropped and everyone seemed at ease. Over the course of the night, small groups of students broke off on their own — while Pink made sure to spend some one-on-one time with everyone. “A lot of students had comments or questions about career direction which would not normally come up in a class situation,” said Pink, “so for me, it was rewarding to get to know the students
Nicolas Esper is a fourth-year student majoring in philosophy and political science.
8
Vol. CXXXIV, No. 1
VARSITY COMMENT
comment@thevarsity.ca
Student–administration cooperation paralyzed in the face of austerity A call for increased student participation in post-secondary funding discussions Abdullah Shihipar VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
“An institution that is open and accessible to all” is what Peter Cooper, the founder of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, intended when he founded the school in 1859. Since its inception, the prestigious New York City college has not charged students tuition. Following an April 23 administration announcement that some students would be charged tuition beginning in 2014, students and faculty at the Cooper Union occupied Cooper president Jamshed Barucha’s office. In mid-July, the occupants and the administration announced that they had reached an agreement. One of the key points of that agreement was the creation of a working group comprised of students and administration that would analyze revenue streams and find alternative sources
of income, rather than charging tuition. This type of student-administration cooperation should be the standard at universities across North America; unfortunately this is far from the case. It is no secret that universities, especially publicly funded institutions like U of T find themselves in a financial bind. Funding from the provincial government is going down and at the same time, the costs of operating such an institution are increasing. Thus far, the remedy to this problem has been to offset the rising costs by making up some of the lost revenue in increased student fees. When such increases are proposed, like when the Faculty of Arts and Science introduced a flat fees payment structure, the argument put forward by university administrations is that they have no choice but to raise fees. It is not the administration pushing these increases, but rather it is just
the reality of austerity. Students are told to be understanding and cooperative, and accept the fees. Students, however, have also been adversely affected by the financial crisis — the cost of school, food, and housing as well as the lack of available employment opportunities put a huge strain on them. Raising fees increase a burden on a group of people who are already stretched beyond their means. This method of dealing with budget shortfalls is unproductive and creates a divide between students and the administration. This is more a top down dictation than a genuine attempt at cooperation. Students and the administration butt heads throughout the year on a variety of issues, one of them being the issue of student fees. Both agree that the university is in dire need of funds. The current method of dealing with revenue not only leaves students and administra-
Embroiled in conflict Maor Oz VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
During my recent semester abroad at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, I met many foreign exchange students who felt a responsibility to place themselves in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In all fairness, many — if not most — of these students had vested interests in how the conflict would play out; many are Jewish students who view Israel as being significant to their identity, or are part of the Palestinian or Israeli diaspora and are continually affected by the conflict over their homelands. Others are students of the three large monotheistic faiths — Judaism, Christianity and Islam — who share a concern for the continuity and governance of their holy sites found in the region. Finally, some students claim Israeli citizenship due to birthright or the Jewish Law of Return, which often results in strong identification with locally-born Israelis. In light of the implications of the conflict, it’s easy to understand how so many people, especially students who are highly active on campus or in their cities, get caught-up in it. Among the few students who I met that did not have preconceived opinions or knowledge of the conflict, almost all left with either a political affiliation or mental and emotional exhaustion from being overexposed to the variety of opinion on the subject. What was most troubling, however, was both the blind confidence displayed by the majority of foreign students — who came believing that they had a definitive solution for peace between Israelis and Palestinians — and the way in which these students expressed that confidence. Very few students showed any openness to different perspectives; they hit the ground running once they arrived by joining political groups that often
While global awareness through social media can help in many cases to foster the positive development of issues throughout the world, the same processes do not work when it comes to questions of identity and statehood. excluded those with opposing positions, casting them as illegitimate solutions. These “illegitimate” solutions included those of locally-born Israelis and Palestinians. Using the addictive and powerful driving force of social media, these students took their involvement to a dangerously imprudent level. While global awareness through social media can help in many cases to foster the positive development of issues throughout the world, the same processes do not work when it comes to questions of identity and statehood. A large number of politically active students in my program used their experiences with Israelis and Palestinians as living examples of their own political stances — often shared through blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. This effectively turned the socio-political situation in the area into a sort of popular social justice project, presenting the conflict as something other than what it really is: a complex nexus of policy decisions and realworld events. What these opinionated students did not understand was that their actions, presented through various online services, have consequences that unnecessarily complicate the way the conflict is perceived in their networks back home. An inaccurate or narrow-sighted piece of news, spread
through these services, can spark global reactions with serious and negative repercussions for Israelis, Palestinians, Jews, Arabs, Muslims, and Christians around the world. A biased presentation of experiences, proffered for one’s own academic and political advancement, works in the same way that biased news corporations’ reporting does: perpetuating and spreading the problem that they first sought to solve. While my hope for Israelis and Palestinians is that they are able to progress positively in the future, it is not the place of foreign students on an exchange semester to participate through likes, shares, and single photo uploads, and to present these as legitimate actions of solidarity to friends and family back home — or indeed, Israelis and Palestinians next door. It is important for all students on exchange in such areas to remember not only that regional conflicts are complicated events that are important to understand, but also that voluntary involvement can blur the lines of responsibility and representation, with implications that must be thoroughly considered before clicking “share.” Maor Oz is a third-year student in linguistics and Jewish studies
tion polarized but also distracts attention away from the provincial government, lobbying efforts, and alumni — all sources of revenue that need to be further tapped. As students at a world-class institution, our futures are staked upon U of T being able to provide us with a quality education, something that can only happen if the university is financially secure. As we are concerned stakeholders, we should be involved in discussions that concern the university’s revenue stream. Students should be given an opportunity to work with the administration in attempts to lobby the provincial government, court alumni and examine alternative revenue streams. The lack of a united front on this issue weakens the push for more funding and allows the provincial government to quietly bypass their obligation to fund post secondary institutions. In order to remedy this situation, structures need to be created that
bring the student voice to the table when it comes to revenue streams. This process should be open, transparent, and, ideally, accessible to all students, not just to a handful of representatives. Students also need to come to the table with an open mind and be willing to analyze the different arguments and proposals. This will set the stage for further cooperation between the students and the administration. This is a complex situation and it requires creative solutions. It is my hope that all members of our university community, students, staff, faculty, and the administration can come together to mutually agree on a solution to our financial woes.
“TRINITY WESTERN” CONTINUED FROM PG 7
Christian groups to lobby and agitate for their interests. This is a luxury which Rastafarians, a tiny minority, do not enjoy. Furthermore, organizations that claim that preventing them from discriminating against gays would restrict their freedom of religion tend to be conspicuously selective in this regard. As Kay admonishes, Christians “are under absolutely no obligation” to “‘read in’ pro-gay interpretations that serve to invalidate the plain meaning of Leviticus 18:22 or 20:13.” They are, however, apparently free to ignore Leviticus 15:19, which commands them to ostracize menstruating women. Out of this bewildering mass of injunctions, institutions like twu blithely disregard the majority, seize upon the one that infringes upon lgbtq rights, and insist that they must be allowed to follow it regardless of its effect on the rights of others — since they cannot freely practice their religion otherwise. This is not a rights-based argument, it is threadbare sophistry. The fact that such reasoning is considered, and accepted, in Canadian law is evidence of the pervasive pro-religion, anti-gay bias that mars both our legal system, and our society in general.
its law school. So the current issue clearly boils down to whether religious institutions should have special privileges to violate individual rights. Many people seem to think that they do, yet it is unclear how to justify this position. Canadian law is inconsistent in this respect; for example, Rastafarians — for whom smoking marijuana is a spiritual act — have been flatly refused any exemption from Canada’s laws against doing so. Marijuana is basically harmless, and any harm that it does cause is only to the person who smokes it. Accommodating Rastafarians in this respect would not violate anyone's rights, yet the courts have decided that Rastafarians' freedom of religious expression is not important enough to merit an exemption to an illiberal law. Christians, on the other hand, have been granted the right to discriminate against gays — refusing to sanctify marriages or rent out Christian facilities for such purposes. Gay citizens' rights to equality have therefore been subordinated to others' religious freedoms by the Supreme Court of Canada. This radical disparity likely has less to do with any principle than with the ability of Canada’s numerous, well-funded
Agree
Abdullah Shihipar is a third year student studying Cell and Molecular Biology, Psychology and American Studies. He is currently an executive member of the Arts and Science Students' Union.
Simon Capobianco is a third-year student in math and philosophy at the University of Toronto
We want to hear from you! Send letters to the editor to:
comment@thevarsity.ca
Disagree
Letters may be edited for length or clarity
var.st/comment
VARSITY COMMENT
MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 2013
9
Shades of truth: the battle for public opinion How the back campus was mishandled by university administrators
Students on Back Campus during a 'play-in' protest in April. FILE PHOTO: CAROLYN LEVETT/THE VARsITY
Paul Aird PROFESSOR EMERITUS, FACULTY OF FORESTRY
Earlier this year, the U of T’s administration unveiled its secret plan to convert the Back Campus from a traditional commons that anyone could enjoy into a fenced and gated enclosure, primarily for the use of athletes. The authorities have tried endlessly to justify their plan by claiming, through words and photographs, that the mud pits on the Back Campus must be replaced with synthetic turf, which is not true. The reason the mud pits exist is because these authorities have failed to reshape the surface soil on the commons to enable meltwater and rainfall to drain away promptly. Vice-President, University Operations Scott Mabury claimed: “The comparative advantage of the synthetic turf is that intensive use will continue much later into the fall and early winter, and can resume much
earlier in the spring." This is a false statement that cries out for correction. No one should be permitted to walk or run on frozen turf because of the risk of damaging the synthetic surface, while everyone is permitted to walk or run on frozen grass at any time. Mabury is quoted in the Toronto Star on June 4, 2013 saying that the question of heritage designation had not ever been raised before councillor Adam Vaughan’s motion to have U of T’s grass fields designated as "a cultural heritage landscape." How could anyone with heritage concerns raise them when the authorities did not conduct discussion on closing the commons in an open manner? And why did the authorities not raise the heritage issues themselves? The university bought a half-page ad in the Toronto Star that announced, “Not a single tree will be touched.” That statement is not even a half-truth; we know from experience that roots on some of
the surrounding trees are growing in the area where the field hockey pitches will be built. These roots will be shattered with power tools. We also know that all of the trees will be exposed to changes in soil moisture and soil fertility that are likely to harm them. The truth is that most, if not all, of the trees will be “touched.” At the City of Toronto’s meeting to consider the university’s heritage conservation plan, councillor Vaughan asked for an estimate of turf life. The reply was 25 years. However, experience from existing field hockey turf installations in the United States shows that turf life better approximates 10 to 12 years. There are many examples in the u.s. where failure to follow recommended maintenance practices have led to surface failure of artificial turf in less than five years. What is the number of years of turf life guaranteed in the university’s warranty contract? Why is it still a secret?
There has been an immense public response in opposition to the university’s plan, with more than 5,000 people having signed a petition against it. However, the authorities have evidently ignored these opposing opinions. As a result, it is distressing that friends of the university are now losing trust in its governance; it is a shame that could have been avoided. I heartily agree with these words by Dr. Eric McGeer: “You guys are your own worst enemies in the battle for public opinion, the whole process to convert the Back Campus has been anything but open and fair and civil. […] If the Back Campus needs improvement, fix it as it is at a fraction of the cost, and let the already existing facilities in Brampton suffice for the Pan-Am Games.” Paul Aird is professor emeritus of forest conservation policy at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Forestry.
Welcome from the UTSU A letter from UTSU president Munib Sajjad Munib Sajjad UTSU PRESIDENT
Dear University of Toronto Students’ Union Members, My name is Munib Sajjad and I am happy to welcome you as president of the students’ union. You are part of a membership of peers over 46,000-strong across the Mississauga and St. George campuses. Together, myself, the UTSU Executive Committee, and the Board of Directors are excited about the work we’ve planned to do to improve our collective student experience. The UTSU works hard to bring you cost-saving services such as our Health and Dental plan, discounted TTC PostSecondary Metropass and our ever-popular, three-cent printing and photocopying service. We run some of the most exciting events across campus — such as UTSUFest, eXpression Against Oppression
Week, the Winter Week of Welcome, and the Montreal Reading Week Trip — and perhaps most importantly, we work to defend your rights as students. We work to make our campus more inclusive, equitable, and socially just. We lobby the U of T administration for fair administrative practices and quality education, and we lobby our municipal, provincial, and federal governments for affordable access to public services as well as accessible and affordable education for all of us. You are entering a system of post-secondary education that has the highest tuition fees across the country and in Canadian history. With the lowest per-capita funding and with the national student debt surpassing $16 billion, we must beg the question: is our education system the most affordable and accessible it can be? I believe that a system such as the one we have now is not accessible to all people and excludes those based on economic means. Ontario students pay the highest tuition fees in
We must beg the question: is our education system the most affordable and accessible it can be? the country, and I think it’s time the Ontario government funded post-secondary education, at least at the average of all the other provinces, so that we can see the tuition fees that we pay reduced. In addition to running services, events, and providing advocacy, the UTSU provides its membership with the resources to create a vibrant campus community.
You are the lifeblood of this campus. At U of T, there are more than 400 clubs that you can get involved with. Stop by our office and pick up the Clubs Directory to find out where you can get involved. You can also start a club of your own, or get involved in the UTSU. Whether you are passionate about sustainability, education, activism, or university policies and events, you have a vote at the UTSU's meetings to drive everything that we do. Join our Facebook page to see when these meetings occur. Your students’ union is here for you. I invite you to get involved. We are 46,000 strong, with many victories under our belt; your students’ movement is yours to create. Sincerely, Munib Sajjad President of the Students' Union
University
of
Toronto
The student chef Your parents aren’t cooking for you anymore, and the novelty of surviving off Kraft Dinner and cereal wears off pretty quickly. ALANNA LIPSON offers a crash course in mastering the art of student cooking During my first year at U of T, in a communal kitchen in Bowles-Gandier residence at Victoria College, I baked a batch of cookies that not only burned to ash, but caused the oven to catch on fire.
Welcome to first-year cooking The good news is twofold: first, you’ll get better with time. Second, until you do, you’re not alone. Most students heading to university for the first time probably don’t have a clue what they’re doing in the kitchen either. But there will come a time when your strict regimen of dining hall, pizza, and takeout truck food will grow tiresome. You will suddenly feel desperate for a home-cooked meal. So go make friends with your kitchen, and visit it often. Just like writing essays, translating ancient Greek, or doing calculus, cooking is a skill that improves with practice.
Tools of the trade Before you get started on your culinary adventure, you need to stock your kitchen with the right tools. You don’t need to spend a small fortune, with great deals available at Honest Ed’s, the Tap Phuong Trading Co. on Spadina, dollar stores, Value Village, or — since you’re likely to head there anyway — Ikea. ?b]jYg. H\Y acgh ]adcfhUbh* acgh igYZi` hcc`g in any kitchen. Of all the items to splurge on, knives are the one. Cheap, dull knives are not only useless but dangerous, as the harder it is to slice something, the more likely it is that the knife will slip and slit your fingers instead. Start with one chef’s knife or santoku knife, and one smaller paring knife. Skip the expensive sets that are full of blades you’ll never use. Department stores like the Bay often have high-quality knives on sale. 7ihh]b[ VcUfXg. ;fUV U gYh* UbX Ugg][b cbY for onions and garlic, one for meat and fish, and one for the rest. Skip the smaller cutting boards — you will almost always wish you used a larger one. ?Yhh`Y. Bch [ccX cb`m Zcf hYU* Vih igYZi` Zcf boiling water for noodles if you’re pinched for time or can’t watch the pot. 6U_]b[ gdUhi`U* kccXYb gdccb* d`Ugh]W Z`]ddYf spatula, ladle, and plastic-tipped tongs: So many pans are covered in a non-stick coating these days, it’s not worth buying the metal equivalents of these and risking scratching them. 6U_]b[ g\YYh. IgYZi` Zcf \YUh]b[ id d]nnU UbX baking cookies alike. Make sure to check the size of your oven first; don’t buy a sheet that’s too big to fit inside. Dchg UbX dUbg. 5 gaU``* U aYX]ia* UbX U `Uf[Y saucepan; a medium nonstick cast aluminum pan (10-inch); and a large, heavier duty steel pan with steep sides (14-inch). Buy a single lid that will cover the larger pans/pots, or just use a plate. AYUgif]b[ Widg* aYUgif]b[ gdccbg* jY[YhUV`Y peeler and can opener: Especially the can opener. 7c`UbXYf cf aYg\ g]YjY. =h»g bch kcfh\ `cg]b[ your noodles in the sink. 7cf_gWfYk. Bch cbY cZ h\cgY \cff]V`Y cbYg k]h\ arms. Get one that folds into itself, with a mini label-knife.
Getting the grub Once your kitchen is stocked with tools, all you need is the actual food to make some magic. There are a number of big-box grocery stores around campus, but in addition to being overwhelming, they’re also on the expensive side. Fortunately for you, St. George campus is situated within easy walking distance of two of Toronto’s most vibrant (and least expensive) food neighVcif\ccXg. ?Ybg]b[hcb AUf_Yh UbX 7\]bUhckb,
?Ybg]b[hcb»g [ch mci WcjYfYX Zcf `cWU`* in-season produce at reasonable prices, and dry-goods stores that offer everything from Ylch]W WUbXm hc Gcih\ 5aYf]WUb dUbhfm ghUples, to health food items. The butcher shops and fishmongers are friendly, knowledgeable, and always willing to offer advice on how best to cook their products; however, since the products are usually locally-raised
and sustainable, you’ll be paying a higher price in accordance with quality. If your budget is tight and you aren’t terribly fussed about where your protein came from or what it ate, then Chinatown is the place for you — and if you’re a vegetarian, the tofu is cheaper here too. Some of the bigger stores, like Oriental Harvest or Lucky Moose Food Mart, are your best bets for one-
stop grocery shopping. Chinatown produce is the cheapest available downtown, though — as with the meat — it won’t likely be local or in-season. For pantry items, though, 7\]bUhckb VYUhg ?Ybg]b[hcb Vm ZUf, Mci»`` find all the same brands for soy sauce, honey, ketchup, jams, peanut butter, and so forth, at prices considerably lower than the major grocery stores.
How to chop an onion: Slice the onion in half through the root (the fuzzy nub part). Peel the outer skin off of both halves, and lay them flat, cut-side down. Grip the fuzzy root end in your left hand, and with the tip of the knife pointed towards it, make incisions that go almost-butnot-quite-all-the-way to the root — this allows it to act like as a grip, and keeps the onion from flying everywhere. Turn the knife so it is perpendicular to the cuts you made, and cut again from the outside in (moving towards the root). Discard the little nub that should be left over.
Photos: ALANNA LIPsoN/the VArsIty
The basics Keeping your digits intact: First, secure your cutting board. If it seems like it’s wobbling or slipping, dampen a kitchen towel and place it underneath to stabilize your cutting surface. If you’re gripping your food in your left hand and cutting with your right, make sure to guide the knife with the knuckles of your left hand, and not your fin[Yfh]dg, 5`kUmg aU_Y gifY hc _YYd mcif Z]b[Yfh]dg curled slightly under, and to bend your thumb out of the way. When you’re learning to chop for the first time, go slowly. You’ll get faster with practise; h\Y [cU` ]g dfYW]g]cb fUh\Yf h\Ub gdYYX, 5bX* Ug mentioned above, always use sharp knives; it’s the dull ones that endanger your digits. How to peel garlic: There are two methods that work well. First, separate your garlic cloves from the head of garlic. Lay an individual clove on its side, and with a chef’s knife chop off the grey nub at the bottom. Then turn your knife on its side, press against the clove, and give it a good smash with your fist. The skin should be loosened Ybci[\ hc g`]d cZZ, 5`hYfbUh]jY`m* gh]W_ Ug many cloves as you’d like in a metal bowl, and then place a second, inverted bowl on top. Shake vigorously for 10 seconds, and the garlic will have peeled itself.
Not all produce needs refrigerating: Many fruits and vegetables stay fresh longer if they aren’t fYZf][YfUhYX, ?YYd mcif cb]cbg UbX [Uf`]W ]b U XUf_* Xfm d`UWY `]_Y U XfUkYf cf WidVcUfX, ?YYd apples, pears, peaches, all citrus, tomatoes, avocadoes, and bananas in a bowl on your counter. If you’re eating them in the near future, even berries taste better unrefrigerated. Fresh herbs: To prolong the lifespan of fresh herbs, place them in a glass filled halfway with water. Cover the glass with a small plastic bag and secure it with an elastic. Store in the fridge. Otherwise, chop up the remaining herbs and fill each cube of an ice tray three-quarters of the way full with the herbs. Cover with water and freeze. Then remove the cubes, put in a labelled bag, and throw into soups, stews, or curries. Salting: 5 `]hh`Y gU`h [cYg U `cb[ kUm, GhUfh Vm UXXing small increments — just a pinch or two — and work your way up from there; you can always add more. If you happen to have over-salted your soup, you can try to salvage it by tossing in a couple cubed potatoes. Cook the potatoes until they’re fork-tender (usually about 20 minutes), and they should absorb some of the salt. Remove and discard the potatoes before serving.
Dried spices 101: 5g \YfVg UfY Xf]YX Zcf ghcfU[Y* their flavour increases in intensity. In general, if you’re substituting dried herbs for fresh ones, use about half the amount called for in the fYW]dY, 5`gc* acgh Xf]YX gd]WYg igiU``m bYYX to be livened up a little before using (cayenne and other chili powders being the exception). To help revive them, heat a dry saucepan to medium-high, then add the spices. Toast them for about a minute, stirring if necessary, and remove from heat, setting the spices aside in a Vck` Ug gccb Ug h\Ym VYWcaY ZfU[fUbh, 5g U fi`Y* dried spices go stale within a few months, so it’s not worth buying them in those massive bags from the grocery store. Better to buy them in small portions from the bulk food sections in ?Ybg]b[hcb cf Uh Ubm \YU`h\ ghcfY, First-time bakers: It pretty much all comes down to this: don’t over-pack your flour. Flour should be scooped out of the bag with a spoon, and gently shaken into the measuring cup to help aerate it. When the measuring cup is full, level the excess off with your finger. Too much flour will turn your baked goods leaden and dense. Likewise, stir your batters as little as possible, usually until the ingredients are just incorporated, to avoid over-working them, also making them dense.
Always use a bigger bowl or pot than you think you need: That extra space isn’t going to hurt anyone, and it is truly annoying to start a project in one bowl/pot only to realize halfway through that you’re going to have to switch to another. Not just for the kitchen: 5 `ch cZ h\Y ]b[fYX]Ybhg or tools you have lying around can be used for more than just culinary experiments. Baking soda and vinegar can be used to clear out a clogged drain. Vinegar mixed with water in a spray bottle works well as an inexpensive alldifdcgY W`YUbYf, 5`ia]bia Zc]`* ]Z Wfiad`YX and wet, can be used to clean rust off of most surfaces. If you break a glass, you can press soft slices of bread over the area to catch the shards. Oddly enough you can rub a little mayo onto a water-stained wood surface, and it will help get rid of the mark. Mostly, cooking is a skill you will hone as you practice. Be sure to wash your dishes as you go, take advantage of your leftovers, and try not to set the kitchen on fire. Improvising is also key and will help you to consolidate your mastery of the kitchen. With a bit of effort, you’ll be making ten course meals for your whole floor in no time (or, at least, some pasta for yourself).
Arts & Culture
BEST OF THE SUMMER
var.st/arts
12 aUGUst 2013 arts@thevarsity.ca
A look at Daft Punk's discography var.st/b69
Loaded opportunity
Investigating the cultural implications of the sale of Mirvish Village
Adam Zachary VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Honest Ed Mirvish’s eponymous temple of thrift has presided over Bloor and Bathurst for sixty five years. Bargains at this local icon are grudgingly loved by many (loaf of bread for a quarter? Holographic howling-wolf print for $7.99?), and indeed, many rely upon them. So the city was shocked in July when David Mirvish, son of Ed, announced that both his family’s stake in the store and the surrounding area was up for sale. The unconfirmed asking price was reported by the Toronto Star to be $100,000,000. Mirvish Village is so named because the late Ed’s investment in the neighborhood extended well past the gaudy dad-joke signs of Honest Ed's (Ed attracts squirrels; at these prices, they think he’s nuts!) to encompass a small empire of seventy independent businesses and mixed-income residential units that has grown along Bathurst, Markham, and Lennox Streets. Opinions about the future of this area fly back and forth. The sale could present an unprecedented opportunity for radical change of the area — including modernization and socioeconomic shift. Conversely, many fear the possibility of radical change. For decades, this rich community has housed and provided for Toronto students and locals of diverse backgrounds and circumstances. It is insular as many villages are, and it is fighting for self preservation just as rural towns on our periphery distrust the creeping suburban sprawl. Owners of Mirvish Village shops have launched a petition to designate
Honest Ed's has long been a haven for students seeking low prices. CarolYN levett /tHe varsitY
their three blocks a Heritage Conservation District similar to the nearby Harbord Village and East Annex; however, this area is much smaller and according to the City of Toronto’s website, is not under official consideration for conservation study. Nevertheless, consciousness of preservation is key to successful development in any historic community. David Mirvish has been quoted as saying he hopes to see future development combining retail with residential building. Surely, a project like his three Gehry towers, soon to rise 80 stories high along King West, would never work in
this less central site, but something rising from behind the flashing and likely-to-be-preserved Honest Ed’s marquee is inevitable. One can only hope for something more inspired than what has become standard fare on every bare Toronto corner: a too-tall, too-featureless glass box of condos, built to a poor standard and sold at the high end of the bubble. While integrating housing into the site, a future developer should be careful of the neighborhood’s existing character, rather than mindlessly pushing gentrification. Markham Street is a welcome respite to the garish Dollarama land-
scape of the nearby block. Behind a rapidly developing Bloor that has recently welcomed flashy international chains like Menchie’s and Jamba Juice, Mirvish Village has retained its independent character and provided affordable space for small, quirky businesses like jewellery studios and record stores to flourish. In fact, the traditional bay-and-gable homes of the area were initially developed as galleries by the Mirvishes when a demolition permit was denied. These businesses would now be hard pressed to find affordable space in such a prime location. Ideally, future development of the site will prioritize
accessibility for small businesses that lack the scale to financially browbeat opponents into acquiescence. Advocates of reinvention and preservation alike have nothing to fret about in the short term; councillor Mike Layton recently passed a one year freeze on retail development along Bathurst, including the Mirvish site. Furthermore, David Mirvish recently told the National Post that nothing has been sold — yet. We must hope that the asking price won’t put the more imaginative developers off of this amazing chance to influence the ongoing definition of our city.
Film Review: Museum Hours Emma Fox VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
“And before I knew it, an hour and a half had slipped pleasantly by,” says Johann, a guard working in a museum in Vienna, while describing the feeling of searching for details in the works of the Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel. Johann is the narrator of Jem Cohen’s film Museum Hours. He enjoys reflecting on the works of art in the museum even though his job is to watch the people. He befriends Anne (Mary Margaret O’Hara), a Canadian tourist visiting her sick cousin, with whom he discusses the museum’s pieces and, through them, more personal things. The film spends as much time out in the city as it does in the museum, and the camera is egalitarian about its subjects. Close-ups of discarded items, Vienna flea markets, and unimportant people never seen again are cut with similar images
found in the painting. There are occasional moments that are purely imagined, perhaps by Johann, like the one in which voyeurs appear as unabashedly naked like the various nudes surrounding them. The movie's title suggests that the museum is spacially distinct, to the degree that time passes differently inside it. Nevertheless, the film argues that paintings, although somewhat unknowable, are not staid artifacts with no relation to present day life. Such is the case for the repeatedly featured works by Bruegel; his paintings are familiar and snapshot-like. Cohen gives his audience the full effect of being in a museum, with the faintest sounds, like footsteps, echoes, distant voices, and audio guides. The long, deep shots of spaces that show people flooding in and out let viewers explore images as they please, as with a painting you've looked at for a long time but still haven't finished seeing.
var.st/arts
VARSITY ARTS & CULTURE
MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 2013
13
In Conversation with Stephen Marche Author Stephen Marche has a thing or two to say about writing. Albertan. I have never been able to bring myself to care about my identity as a subject. Love and the Mess We're In is my attempt to write a multicultural novel, because the forms come from everywhere: Jewish religious texts, Islamic calligraphy, Zen exercises, French avant-garde poetry, and so on. That was my kind of answer to the possibilities of the city.
John Marshall VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Stephen Marche is a novelist and contributing editor for Esquire, where he writes a monthly column, "A Thousand Words About Our Culture." He’s written for the New York Times, Toronto Life, and The Globe and Mail. Marche's novels include How Shakespeare Changed Everything, Raymond and Hannah, and Shining at the Bottom of the Sea. His latest, Love, and the Mess We’re In, is a collaboration with award-winning typographer Andrew Steeves. Marche holds a PhD in English from the University of Toronto.
TV: Your work tends to mention boredom and your characters often write or read as a way to assuage boredom — even though those activities are often the cause of their ennui. Do you find writing as a way for you to entertain yourself or others?
The Varsity: Elmore Leonard once wrote that he crams his books with dialogue because it's the only part of prose that readers don't scan or skip. Was the Clive and Viv section of Love and the Mess We're In a conscious effort on your part to engage the reader in a similar way, or was that simply how you had conceived the book before writing it? Stephen Marche: I literally was thinking of that quote when I wrote that section of Love and the Mess We're In. I can't remember who said that the problem with novels is that you end up writing things like "the duchess took tea at four" but I believe that. All the formal stuff in Love and the Mess We're In, and in Raymond and Hannah, too, is me trying to figure out a way to write a novel that's just the good bits. TV: Besides references to classical texts, formally, your works are unabashedly contemporary and avant-garde. Did you ever have difficulty confronting those two vastly different components of your world-view while handling them in your literary output?
SM: When I was a kid, whenever I said that I was bored, my father would always quote Buddha: "When you are bored you've drawn a curtain between yourself and the potential of the moment." Every time. It used to drive me crazy. But writing is maybe the world's most obvious way of pulling back that curtain of boredom.
PHOTO COURTESY OF STEPHEN MARCHE
SM: I don't really ask myself too many questions about personal consistency. I just try to do things that are interesting to me. Sometimes I feel like writing about Jacobean dramatists, sometimes I want to write novels with chapters that are fold-out maps, sometimes I want to write about Honey Boo-Boo. TV: There are a few contemptuous sections in Raymond and Hannah re: religion. The fragmented elliptical paragraphs read like passages out of Rimbaud's A Season In Hell. Did you have any personal bones to
pick with religion at that time in your life? SM: No more than most atheists, I don't think. Although I've always been one of those atheists alive to the power of religion even though I think you may as well believe in fairies. TV: As a Toronto-based writer, do you feel a responsibility to address multiculturalism and personal identity issues? SM: I suppose if I'd been a different kind of writer, I would have written about the Italian-Canadian side of my family or being
TV: Your article on Marie Calloway's What purpose did i serve in your life presents her sort of how people have come to see Lena Dunham: an ingénue submitting herself to horrifying sexual experiences in order to write about them. Do you think our current crop of young writers are any more narcissistic than writers from past generations? SM: It's funny. I just saw a selfie that Geraldo Rivera took of his abs, which he tweeted with the caption "70 is the new 50." There's no question that writing in general is more narcissistic than it has been, but I hope we can find a way to distinguish between narcissism and selfishness and vanity. We live in a world dominated by the ease of creating image, by celebrity culture,
and by the constant self-presentation of social media. Increased narcissism is almost a biological reaction to those new realities, and it affects everyone — including writers. But in writers like Lena Dunham, like Marie Calloway, and also Louis CK there is this profound longing for escape from the self — from escape from narcissism, and that's hugely hopeful. Because the boomers and Gen-Xers were just happy to be stuck up their own asses. TV: Did you expect the huge backlash following your Megan Fox interview? Is it flattering, bothersome, or simply entertaining when there's a dialogue of that kind going on about your work? SM: I don't really feel anything about it. I never know what the reaction to my work is going to be. That goes for anything. The first note that came in about that piece was from Diablo Cody and was very complimentary. You never know. There is an army of underemployed people who wake up every morning and scour the Internet for things to be outraged about. That morning, I was that thing. The next, it was something else. TV: What are you currently working on? SM: I have a novel coming out next year (It hasn't been announced yet, so I'll keep schtum). I have a short story out in the Malahat Review this summer and another in The Walrus in the fall. I hope, when I'm 80, I'll have about 100. Then I'll publish. Those are the kind of collections I like. Read the rest of the interview online at thevarsity.ca and learn what Stephen Marche has to say about his time as a U of T student.
write for arts! first time writers welcome arts@thevarsity.ca
14
Vol. CXXXIV, No. 1
VARSITY ARTS & CULTURE
arts@thevarsity.ca
Link, share, and subscribe Youtube and the formation of cult-like fan bases Amina Mohamad
“Iz u gud? Iz u okay? Cuz I wanted to noe.” Over the past several weeks, I unleashed myself into the annals of YouTube, amassing a borderline-insurmountable stack of videos that I would try my best to watch. I became a "Nerdfighter" and a "Hopeful", a "Beard Lover" and a semi-passionate member of the "Nermie Army", all in an effort to understand the fervor of the members of these groups and what exactly makes them tick. For the record, I am still unsure. But the key feature of these groups is their undying loyalty for the YouTubers they watch. On August 3, Shay Carl’s trailer for his new film Vlogumentary went live on YouTube. An indepth and personal exploration of the tropes of video-blogging (or vlogging), the movie aims to discuss the effect vlogging has on the vlogger and his/her audience. Shay Carl, who is one of YouTube’s most successful content creators, interviewed many other popular YouTubers for his film, including dailygrace, vlogbrothers, and wheezywaiter, most of whom have millions of subscribers. However, a point not mentioned in the trailer is that perhaps the most important feature of YouTube popularity is the audience's impact on the creator. Take YouTuber Alex Day. In December of 2011, he launched a campaign on his channel nerimon to get his single "Forever Yours" to the top of the UK’s Christmas number one list, which is dominated by larger bands. Unable to attract the attention of radio stations, he turned to his YouTube viewers, ask-
nancy ji/THe VarsiTy
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
ing them to buy the song and its eleven remixes on iTunes and proceed to spread the word. Consequently, "Forever Yours" slowly began climbing the iTunes charts, surpassing songs by One Direction and Adele. The music video, directed by Charlie McDonnell of the YouTube channel charlieissocoollike, gained over a million views in its first week with the song eventually reaching the number 4 spot, at the time the highest ranking for any unsigned artist. The incredible success of this song is largely, if not entirely, due
to the voluntary participation of several hundred thousand people across the globe. Alex Day gave a ted talk in San Diego discussing the project, mentioning "Forever Yours" high spot on the iTunes charts of many different countries. The power of his fans, who are dubbed the "Nermie Army," earned him the title ‘future of music’ from Forbes magazine. Similarly, the vlogbrothers, John and Hank Green, have incredible influence in the YouTube world. With over five channels collectively boasting over half a billion
views, their supporters, nicknamed "Nerdfighters," are arguably YouTube’s most powerful fanbase. The brothers' most noteworthy projects include the This Star Won’t Go Out (tswgo) campaign and the Project for Awesome (p4a), both charitable endeavors. tswgo aims to raise money for families with children who have cancer and works to alleviate the cost of living expenses, allowing families to focus on their ailing child. According to the p4a about page, “the Project for Awesome is an annual event that sprung
out of various YouTube communities to support charities and other ways of decreasing the overall worldwide level of suck.” On December 17, YouTubers from all over the world upload videos talking about their favorite charities and the top 5 most popular videos dictate which charities will receive the money raised that year. What makes the vlogbrothers so influential is the response rate of their subscribers and their willingness to participate in theses charitable campaigns. The content creators feel the effects of their participation but, in this case, the effects are just as important to underprivileged families, ailing children, and a whole host of other people. Benjamin Cook of YouTube channel ninebrassmonkeys started a fantastic, half hour, 12-week segment called "Becoming Youtube" that seeks to understand the rules of YouTube and the work put in by content creators. A recent episode discusses the flip side to large fan bases and the sense of entitlement that exists within passionate groups. However, there is much more to be said about the positive effect fan bases have. The "number one rule" of the internet — never read the comments — can be challenged by the lovely remarks made by those who watch Soul Pancake. YouTube has a lot more to offer than cinnamon challenge fails and slenderman reaction videos; it is an insight into our need for interaction, and it highlights the many positive possibilities of collective effort. “We love making videos and one of the best things about Youtube is that we have that direct contact. You inspire us as well!”
Red, blue, and green: the best things come in threes Taking a look at the cinematic importance of Edgar Wright’s Cornetto triology. Raphael Deutsch
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
The Cornetto trilogy comprises three genre-mashing films by British director Edgar Wright: Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World's End. The trilogy’s name comes from the fact that there is a throwaway reference in each film to different flavours of the eponymous ice cream treat. Each film takes on a specific genre and pays homage to certain films or tropes in the genre. What makes these films special is the fact that one can clearly see the love that the filmmakers have for the genre source material and the understanding they have of that material. Collectively, these films have set a high bar for genre parodying. The first of the Cornetto films, Shaun of the Dead — its title refer-
encing George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead — is a parody of the zombie film genre; hence the reference to a red Cornetto. The film showcased Wrights talent for frenetically paced, adrenaline-pumping, insightful films that deconstruct a genre while becoming great genre films in their own right. Hot Fuzz, my personal favorite of the three, references action cinema and police procedurals and is symbolized by the blue Cornetto. The film manages to make several direct references to the 1991 action film Point Break, one of the more testosterone-filled movies of the 90s. In this film, Wright succeeds on many levels. He manages to parody key moments found in action films, such as the walking away from an explosion without turning back, while creating a thrilling and entertaining action thriller.
The World's End, with its green Cornetto, is a blatant homage to the alien invasion/body snatchers genre. It is a successful entry that explored more mature themes than the previous two films. While feeling similar to the previous two there was a definite, evolution in tone. Current films such as Zombieland or Warm Bodies undoubtedly owe a great deal to the Wright’s Cornetto trilogy. There are arguably no other contemporary comedy films that have achieved the quality of these films (yes, even Attack of the Block). There is something of a cultural consensus, amongst both critics and audiences, that the trilogy is not only entertaining but of great quality. Critics give the films high ratings and the box office numbers of the films have been good.
A film trilogy that manages to unite these two markers of success is rare indeed. They have also, to a
certain degree, rejuvenated their respective genres and reinforced their cultural relevancy.
Science
BEST OF THE SUMMER
var.st/sCIENCE
Got 20 minutes? Watch the top five TEDxUofT talks
12 aUGUst 2013
var.st/b77
science@thevarsity.ca
Living Sociably Two U of T students create an app to take pain out of social organization
WENdy GU/tHE varsIty
Rida Ali
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Two U of T students have embraced the spirit of entrepreneurship and created a new app that aims to make it easier to plan social outings. Abby Vaidyanathan and Jimoh Ovbiagele saw a need for a platform that would easily allow students to plan hangouts without leaving one person to dictate the timing. They created Sociably to fulfill this need. As Ovbiagele explains it, “The reason why we built the app is we know how frustrating it is to get your friends together in a short amount of time, so we decided we needed a disparate solution from what people are currently using, like group chats, sms, and Doodle. So we took the basics of all of those technologies and packed it into one lightweight design.”
As Vaidyanathan points out that “this app in many ways focuses on a problem that many students face. With everyone’s conflicting class schedules, it’s very hard to get in touch with everyone, get your plan going. I feel like this is primarily a student problem.” The Sociably app allows users to create an event suggestion with a place, date, and time, and send the suggestion to all of the friends they want to invite. The date of the suggestion can only be set for either the day of or the day after the suggestion is being sent out. “We want to keep it spontaneous, that’s the kind of behavior we want to promote. You don’t want people yammering in the group chat for two weeks before the meeting, it would remove the urgency of you getting the notification,” says Vaidyanathan.
The app will also allow users to group people together and make lists of people with whom the users usually hang out most. As they configure the app, users will have to log in with their Facebook accounts. The app makes use of this link to Facebook to discern a user’s close friends by searching the people with whom the user takes pictures most often. These close friends will automatically be ranked at the top of a user’s contact list, to make the invitation process easier. Once a suggestion is sent out, recipients can suggest alternate times if the time suggested does not work for them. After alternate suggestions are sent out, all users invited to an event can up-vote or down-vote a suggested time. The app is cross-platform and can be used with any Blackberry, ios, or Android smartphone. It also has a feature that allows users
who don’t have a smartphone, or who don’t want to download the app, to receive suggestions and invites through sms. sms users can still make suggestions to change the time of an event by formatting their suggestion in a specific way. Once the app is launched, the plan is to focus advertising mainly on the U of T campus. The creators have chosen to focus on U of T in particular because they want to use the student body to get feedback before seeking a wider release. Ovbiagele and Vaidyanathan want to observe how students use Sociably and determine what they like and dislike about the app. Students interested in a beta-version of the app should visit www.sociablyapp.com.
a tbi, putting them at increased risk for another tbi. What do these findings mean for older peers? What other questions do these finding raise? Since its publication, the study caused quite a stir; the number of tbis sustained was thought to be much lower than this particular study indicated. As the data for the survey used was reported by adolescents, instead of hospital data, there is the shock factor question: “Why the gap between hospital data and self-reported data?” Could it be a misconception of the definition of a tbi? Ilie and her team define a tbi as “an acquired brain injury in which the student was unconscious for at least five minutes or hospitalized overnight.” I wouldn’t have guessed five minutes of unconsciousness would qualify as a tbi — perhaps the “traumatic” part of the name is misleading. As the majority of tbis stem from playing sports, it would be interesting to find out what the specific causes of the tbis are. In light of the Toronto Star’s recent article,
“Hockey fans love fighting, survey says,” which reported that 62 per cent of hard-core hockey fans find fighting to be a significant part of the game at the professional level, it might also be relevant to find out how frequently the young athletes who reported tbis watch sports on tv. Could there be a link between on-screen behaviour and the student athletes’ tbis? Ultimately, the study could play a valuable part in reducing the instances of tbis in youth. “Traumatic brain injury is preventable,” said Ilie. “If we know who is more vulnerable, when and how these injuries are occurring, we can talk to students, coaches, and parents about it. We can take preventive action and find viable solutions to reduce their occurrence and long-term effects.” If Drake is ever interested in rapping about the consequences of the party life, this study could be a great resource.
Discolure: Abby Vaidyanathan is a member of the Board of Directors of Varsity Publications.
Beers, bongs and brains SEEMI QAISER VARSITY COLUMNIST
In today’s pop culture, films with wild parties continue to plague movie theatres and every new Drake song mentions rolling a joint. And yet, no one talks about the elephant in the room: what happens post-party to those who indulge in cannabis and alcohol. Toronto researchers lead by Dr. Gabriela Ilie at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (camh) and St. Michael’s Hospital recently discovered that students who reported drinking alcohol frequently in the past twelve months were five times more likely to acquire a traumatic brain injury (tbi) than those who didn’t drink. The odds were three times higher for frequent cannabis users. Although the preceding statistics may seem intuitive, the study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, also found some surprising statstics: half of all injuries which kill or disable young
people in Canada involve a tbi. Almost 47 per cent of all tbis reported by adolescent females and 63.5 per cent reported by adolescent males occurred during sports. Students reporting poor grades had almost four times the odds of having acquired a tbi in their lifetime. These numbers are overwhelming and possibly alarming, but my party people might point out that the sample for this study consists of students from grades 7-12 and thus, the conclusions do not apply to university students. But before you pick up your beers, bongs and baseball bats, don’t forget that brain development continues well into your mid-20s. The study also points out that evidence continues to show that concussions (the most common of tbis) increase risk of suffering further concussions, and that multiple brain injuries can result in lasting cognitive impairment among other problems. This future impact is especially concerning because the study found that one in five students from grades 7-12 have already had
Seemi Oasiser’s column contextualizing scientific discovery appears monthly.
16
VARSITY SCIENCE
Vol. CXXXIV, No. 1
science@thevarsity.ca
How long can you code?
Download and go Pack a lunch and explore Toronto with these apps Andrew E. Johnson
NANCY JI/THe VArsITY
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Computer Science Student Union to host 36 hour coding competition Katrina Vogan
SCIENCE EDITOR
On September 27, 500 hackers will arrive at U of T. Over the next three days, they will participate in the university’s first hackathon. The hackathon, called UofTHacks, will include seminars, expos, and one 36hour hacking session. A “hackathon” is a “hacking marathon” in which groups of coders come together to build a project over a set amount of time. Some hackathons are collaborative, with each team contributing a specific element to a pre-determined final project. Others, like UofTHacks, are competitive. In a competitive hackathon, teams of hackers compete against each other, each team coding their own project to be presented and judged. Hackathons generally last no more than 40 hours; short hackathons may only run 10 hours long. At 36 hours, the UofTHacks marathon is relatively long; the experience will probably be exhausting. In anticipation of coder ennui, the organizers have arranged for free food and some entertainment to lift the spirits of the hackers who will be bundled up in the Bahen Centre.
There will be movies playing for those who wish to take a break, and there’s talk of hiring a magician. Ultimately, however, the goal of an enjoyable time might come second to the prestige of winning what will be Canada’s largest student hackathon. Traditionally, a hackathon is a valuable networking opportunity in addition to a place to refine coding technique. The final Hack Expo will allow participants to show off their products and rub shoulders with investors and leaders in the computer science field. UofTHacks is the brainchild of Sophia Park and Aashni Shah, two U of T computer science students. (Park is also the vice president of the Computer Science Student Union cssu). Park says that the idea for the hackathon was born from a desire to inspire a greater sense of community in the cssu, and that the hackathon is in part meant to draw attention to Toronto as a computer science hub. “I wanted to make U of T more of a place known for hacking — for our computer science community, ” she says, “Compared to Waterloo, for example — they seem like they have a hacker base. People there are really involved in computer science: it’s a community! I felt like U of T didn’t have that ... I wanted to draw people
to Toronto. I felt like in Canada, Waterloo is getting all the attention! … I wanted a good community base here.” The event has succeeded in attracting outside attention to Toronto. Around 100–150 of the hackers attending are expected to be non-local hackers, and the event has attracted major sponsors. The event is completely free of charge. As of press time, there is still space to register. Four levels of registration are available, and it is possible to attend the expo and seminars without committing to the marathon coding session. People with little coding experience shouldn’t be afraid to register as a hacker, according to Park. “A hackathon, even for people who know how to code, is a chance to learn,” she says. “If you want to come and learn coding for 36 hours, that’s fine too.” The hackathon experience isn’t for everyone. “It’s pretty intense!” laughs Park. She then immediately clarifies that the positives outweigh the negatives. “It’s not the most comfortable experience, but still, it’s fun. And it’s kinda rewarding ... I feel connected. Like ‘they’re doing it, so I can do it too!’” For U of T computer science students, suffering together can build community and software.
Research Recap Male guppies force mating with genital claws
Supressor gene could improve cancer thearapy
Researchers from U of T`s Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department have discovered that male guppies prevent unsuccessful mating by grasping unreceptive females with claws grown at the tip of their genitals. The team of researchers that worked on this study included PhD candidate Lucia Kwan, former graduate student Yun Yun Cheng, and Professors Helen Rodd and Locke Rowe. The study speculated on two potential purposes for these genital claws: to transfer sperm more easily to the unreceptive female or to hold on to the unreceptive female during mating to ensure transfer of sperm. Phenotypic engineering was used to determine the purpose of the genital claws, meaning the claws were surgically removed from a group of males. The amount of sperm transferred to both receptive and unreceptive females by the declawed males was compared to the amount transferred by males with their claws intact. The results showed that clawed males transferred up to three times more sperm to unreceptive females than declawed males. Since there was no difference in sperm transfer to receptive females between the male groups, it appears that the genital claws actually developed on the male guppy in response to sexual conflict between male and female guppies to force mating with unwilling females.
A Toronto-based team of scientists from Princess Margaret Hospital recently published a groundbreaking paper in Science on the tumour suppressor gene pten. The discovery explains important molecular mechanisms of pten and helps strengthen the foundation of personalized cancer treatment. The team investigated the effect of pten loss and deregulation by manipulating human and animal cancer cells. Additional experiments also uncovered that, when subject to radiation and genotoxic substances — both of which are essential conditions of conventional cancer treatments — cells produce different responses, leading to various survival rates, depending on the cells’ proficiency or deficiency in pten. In an interview with Science Codex, Dr. Vuk Stambolic commented that this difference may account for the apparent ineffectiveness of traditional chemotherapy and radiation on some tumors, since pten is “defective in as many as half of all advanced cancers.” The principal investigator of the team, Dr. Stambolic is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medical Biophysics at U of T. The new finding will be a useful tool for clinicians when making treatment decisions. With tests for pten deficiency already developed, clinicians can now devise more effective therapies based on the pten property of the cells.
— Anika Hazra With files from Nature World News
— Shijie Zhou With files from ScienceCodex and Science
The app: See Toronto (http://www.seetorontonow.com/) Price: Free Recommended?: Yes Pros: Any visitor to Toronto can easily use this app to explore the city. The app’s home page has a user-friendly design that is colorful and appealing to the eye. The app provides 6 citynavigation categories from which to choose and provides users with pre-selected itineraries ranging in theme from “First-Timers” and “LGBT Picks”. Other categories include Dining, Attractions, Shopping, Events and Services. The app functions quickly and is easy to navigate with very few ads. Cons: The app uses data — users may find themselves going over their data limit from over-usage! The app: Toronto in Time (http://citiesintime.ca/toronto/) Price: Free Recommended?: Yes Pros: This app is interesting, fun and educational! It provides the user with a list of different areas in Toronto, as well as a list of historical events and facts about locations in a given area. When the ‘Downtown’ area is selected, the user is shown over 107 historical stories, events and interesting pieces of information about downtown Toronto’s colorful history. The app is very user-friendly and easy to navigate with few ads. Users can also choose from a variety of categories — such as sports, industry and arts. Recommended for Toronto natives — you might be surprised at how much you learn about the city! Cons: The app could use more frequent updates. Some users have found inaccuracies with the placement of events and some historical facts. The app: Toronto Maps and Walks (http://www.gpsmycity.com/apps/torontowalking-tours-21.html) Price: Free (Lite Version) / $4.99 (Full Version) Recommended?: No Pros: The app provides the option of creating your own tour with a list of about 80 attractions around Toronto. The pre-planned walks include a tour of Cabbagetown. Cons: The free app only provides 10 walks around Toronto, which is a very small selection. There is an option to upgrade to the full version, but it is not worth the money. This app requires data and includes many ads.
Write! science@thevarsity.ca
Sports
BEST OF THE SUMMER
Blues helping those in need off the field
var.st/sports
12 aUGUst 2013 sports@thevarsity.ca
var.st/b5c
New Varsity Blues usher in fresh season Greg Knox, Rob Underhill, John Campbell, and a multitude of new athletes join Blues Michael Patterson VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
The Varsity Blues’ athletics department has both refashioned the coaching staff for the men’s football and basketball teams and added new, integral players to the women’s track and field rosters for the upcoming 2013–2014 season. Greg Knox, the newly appointed defensive coordinator of the Blues’ football team, has a sensational background, having won the Vanier Cup twice — once as a player, and once as a coach — as well as two Grey Cup championships with the Calgary Stampeders as a captain and player. In 1994, Knox was also named a Canadian Football League all-star and was a nominee for the Tom Pate “Man of the Year Award.” For the past six seasons, Knox held the position of defensive coordinator at McMaster University. Fans will see more synchronization and play-making recognition through reinforced dominance on the defensive line with Knox as a coach. In addition to the new defensive coordinator, Rob Underhill will join the Blues’ football squad as a defensive backs coach for the 2013–2014 season. This past season, Underhill worked as the head coach of the Hamilton Hurricanes. He has coached the Hamilton Ironmen for the past 12 years, and also has experience as an assistant coach at McMaster University. Underhill’s expertise will augment implementation of defensive backs in formations, resulting in easier recognition of offensive actions
and increased measures to thwart offensive gains. Underhill will reinforce the discipline and defensive schemes supervised by Knox. John Campbell has been named the new head coach of the men’s basketball team for the season, after an 11-season tenure with the Dalhousie Tigers. Campbell’s experience also includes serving as the head coach of Laurentian University’s women’s basketball team, which has won two Ontario University Athletics titles. In addition to his regional coaching ability, Campbell’s experience on the international basketball scene includes working as the assistant coach of Great Britain’s U20 team in 2012, and as assistant coach for Team Canada’s basketball team during this summer’s Universiade in Kazan. Dalhousie’s director of varsity athletics, Karen Moore, maintains that Campbell’s skill includes “fixing basketball programs,” which is what the Blues need after the team’s sup-bar season last time out, with the Blues finishing 3–17. Campbell’s expertise also extends to promoting team chemistry and creating a framework with which team members can accomplish momentous results — such as the Tigers-top contender finish in their conference last season. Varsity Blues football recruit Danny Sprukulis, an offensive lineman, is set to be a tremendous addition to the Blues’ football roster for the upcoming seasons. Sprukulis, an example of head coach Greg Gary’s cultivation of Ontario recruits, will help to control the line of scrimmage — giving a much needed boost to the team’s
NaNCY JI/tHe varsItY
ongoing battle for a long-overdue successful season. Sprukulis started at both left tackle and defensive line for Holy Trinity CSS.’s senior football team and was named a member of the U18 Team Ontario West squad — where he was recognized as a 2012 Canada Cup all-star. Sprukulis was a valuable competitor for his team, capturing a bronze medal at the TD Waterhouse Stadium in London, Ontario. Twin brothers Chris Heim and Phil Heim have confirmed their acceptance to study at U of T and have committed to play for the Blues’ football team this fall. The Heim brothers attended Richview Collegiate Institute, and are both accomplished high school basketball and football players. They hail from Etobicoke, Ontario, and are extremely valuable recruits — adding both the prowess and physical impetus needed by the program. Chris and Phil plan to major in political science and economics, respectively.
The already-strong women’s track and field team has added four more sprinters to its roster: Alison Fraser, who finished the 2012 Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association (ofsaa) championships with a bronze medal in the 400-metre race and won the U18 title in the same race during the 2012 Legion Canadian youth championships; Maggie Hanlon, a masters student who placed first in the 100-metre, 200-metre, and 400-metre races in the B.C. Athletics Championships in 2012 and finished ninth at the Canadian senior track and field championships and Olympic Trials; Ellie Hirst, who won the 200-metre and 400-metre Alberta School’s Athletic Association (asaa) titles in 2012 and placed sixth at the Canadian junior championships; and Victoria McIntyre, who finished fourth in the senior girls’ 200-metre at the 2012 ofsaa championships, and finished 11th in last summer`s Canadian junior national championships.
Blues have a hot summer Marek Deska and Alicia Brown represent U of T at international sporting competitions this summer Madeline Klimek VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Marek Deska. pHoto CoUrtesY sFa sports
Training and competition did not cease for Varsity Blues athletes this summer. In fact, most athletes competed this summer throughout Ontario, Canada, and around the world. Marek Deska and Alicia Brown went overseas to Europe to compete in their respective sports: baseball and track. Marek Deska, a pitcher for the Varsity Blues’ baseball team, spent his time with the Polish national baseball team for his fourth tournament, playing in the European Championship qualifier in Zurich, Switzerland. “It is always an amazing experience being able to represent your birth country,” said Deska. The Polish team played well, but ended up losing to Great Britain, who ultimately
won the tournament’s championship game. Deska hopes that the Varsity Blues’ baseball team will continue their winning streak to claim a third straight Ontario University Athletics (oua) championship. Deska puts his confidence in his teammates: “I’m sure all of our players have been working hard in the offseason, and we’ll be ready to defend our title once again.” Alicia Brown, the Varsity Blues’ Female Athlete of the Year for the 2012–2013 season, and other members of the track and field team were very busy competing this summer. “I had the privilege of running on the national 4×400-metre relay team at the Penn Relays, and competed in Kazan, Russia in the 27th Summer Universiade,” said Brown, who represented Canada twice this summer. Brown finished fifth in the 400-metre race at the Universiade, where she ran a personal best of 52.08 seconds — which allowed her
to qualify for the International Association of Athletics Federations’ world championships in Moscow, Russia. The 4×400-metre team, which included Blues teammate Sarah Wells, ran a season’s best time — also qualifying for the World Championships. In September, Brown will finish her season at the Francophone Games in Nice, France. Although Brown will no longer be a Blues athlete this coming year, she “looks forward to watching the team excel from the sidelines.” Like Deska, Brown has full confidence in her team members. Brown sees the “young talent joining the team,” and “had the opportunity to watch our veterans get faster, stronger, and fitter every day.” Brown is ending her time with the Blues wishing “the best of luck” to all, and has no “doubt that there will be no shortage of personal bests this season.”
18
VARSITY SPORTS
Vol. CXXXIV No. 1
UNIVERSIADE BY THE NUMBERS
15
Blues athletes competing
24
Canada’s final place in the standings
16
Total # of medals won by Canada
UPCOMING GAMES
Women’s Soccer vs. Nipissing Lakers Saturday, September 7 Varsity Stadium, 12 pm
Men’s Soccer vs. Nipissing Lakers Saturday, September 7 Varsity Stadium, 2.15 pm
Men’s Lacrosse vs. McMaster Marauders Saturday, September 7 Varsity Stadium, 7 pm
sports@thevarsity.ca
From the Blues to the Raptors Veteran U of T basketball coach named new Raptors assistant coach JP Kaczur
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
After yet another disappointing season, the Toronto Raptors are bringing on a number of new assistant coaches — including long-time former Varsity Blues men’s basketball assistant coach Jama Mahlalela. Mahlalela was active with the Blues from 2005–2009, taking them to the postseason in all four years. The Blues’ basketball program has consistently been considered one of the best in Canada, despite the challenge involved in recruiting players who meet the high academic standards. Mahlalela’s success in a program with such restrictions impressed the Raptors staff enough to land him his first nba coaching job. Mahlalela is inexperienced as an nba coach, but brings with him an impressive résumé. The Swaziland-born and Torontoraised coach began his basketball career as a standout athlete at Oakwood Collegiate. His high school track record brought him to the University of British Columbia (ubc), where he was a four-year starter. From there, he began working in the Raptors’ front office as director of player development, and continued to do so for over a decade. Mahlalela has bounced around the globe; he has worked in basketball camps in his native Swaziland, as well as in Kenya and Brazil. Moreover, he was named director of basketball operations for nba Asia, helping to develop young players in the burgeoning market. Mahlalela described his work for nba Asia as “a busi-
Former Varsity Blues assistant coach Mahlalela is joining the Raptors as part of the nba team’s coaching reshuffle. PHOTO COURTESY VARSITY BLUES
ness suits and shorts kind of job,” which should make the transition to assistant coaching pretty seamless for him — considering the nba’s dress code for coaches during games. “Jama is one of the best player relations and player development guys that we have,” said Raptors head coach Dwane Casey, who has already worked closely with
the new assistant coach, during Mahlalela’s time in the Raptors’ front office. “I’ve seen the talent he has as far as teaching on the court and working with guys.” The Raptors organization that Mahlalela has worked with over the past decade has missed a playoff spot five years in a row, but his new position is a unique opportunity for a Canadian bas-
ketball-lover like himself. The Raptors have a history of giving Canadian basketball alumni these kinds of opportunities with the team — such as that given to former Canadian senior men’s national team’s head coach Jay Triano — in their attempt to keep Canadian basketball players and coaches in Canada. Last season was again disappointing for the Raptors, with the team placing last in their division and 10th in their conference with a 34–48 record and missing a playoff spot by four wins. The team was led by DeMar Derozan, who finished the season with a field goal percentage of 0.445, and Rudy Gay, who posted a 0.336 three-point percentage. Gay was acquired by the Raptors mid-season on January 30 in a three-way trade with the Memphis Grizzlies and the Detroit Pistons, and he set a franchise record by scoring 74 points in his first three games. The Raptors are entering the 2013–2014 season with a roster similar to the final one last year, including their star players Gay, DeRozan, and captain Amir Johnson, still being led by head coach Dwayne Casey. Johnson completed his eighth season in the nba, last season playing 81 games with a 0.554 field goal percentage and an average of 10 points per game. The home opener, and Raptors season opener will be on October 30 at the Air Canada Centre against the Boston Celtics. Time will tell if Mahlalela will have a major impact on the Raptors this season, but given the crucial part he played in putting U of T basketball on the map, he will hopefully help to lead the team out of their multi-year drought.
U of T veteran to be inducted into hockey hall of fame Former Canucks coach Harry Neale to be recognized for contributions to broadcasting Amanda Coletta
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Harry Neale has spent decades filling millions of living rooms across North America with his razor-sharp wit and humorous insights. Now the former Varsity Blues hockey player and ex-Vancouver Canucks coach-turnedbroadcaster is to be inducted into the Toronto-based Hockey Hall of Fame as this year’s recipient of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for excellence in hockey broadcasting. “They must have relaxed the standards,” Neale joked in an interview with Ed Willes of The Province in British Columbia. “I think it’s because I’m getting old. My social security card has two numbers on it.” However, it’s hard to argue that Neale is not deserving of the ac-
colade. The transition from hockey management to broadcast media is not always easy, but Neale made it effortlessly. Perhaps the move to broadcasting was easy because, even as a coach, Neale was a straight shooter — often critical, but almost always highly amusing. After then Islanders’ coach Al Arbour complained about the Canucks’ style of play following Game One of the 1982 Cup final, Neale remarked, “I guess they expected us to get right into the barrel and let them piss on us without even a wiggle.” Neale wasn’t behind the bench for that series; he was serving a ten game suspension for engaging in a brawl with fans of the Quebec Nordiques that same year. When Senators fans expressed their displeasure with his analysis during a playoff series with the Leafs in 2001, he told them
to “take a big bite out of my ass.” Neale was born in Sarnia, Ontario and was an all-star defenseman with the Toronto Marlboros. A graduate of U of T, he played for the Varsity Blues men’s hockey team alongside Tom Watt, former coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Neale taught high school in Hamilton, Ontario before beginning his professional coaching career with Ohio State University during the mid-1960’s, where he finished with a 49–48 record. After stints coaching a number of teams, including the Hartford Whalers, Neale became coach of the Vancouver Canucks in 1978, eventually leading the team to the 1982 Stanley Cup finals. He made the leap to the broadcasting booth in 1986 after he was fired as head coach of the Detroit Red Wings. For nearly two decades, Neale partnered Bob Cole on cbc’s Hockey Night in Canada. Together,
the popular duo called 20 Stanley Cup finals and provided hockey fans with a witty and entertaining commentary for their games. Once, when Tie Domi moved the puck behind the net in a Leafs-Rangers game, Cole remarked, “Tie looks like Wayne Gretzky behind the net,” to which Neale cleverly replied, “Yeah, but when he gets in front of the net he looks like Tie Domi.” In 2007, Neale secured a job in the Buffalo broadcast booth, calling Sabres’ games alongside Rick Jeanneret. Neale’s Hall of Fame induction will take place on November 11, 2013. The broadcasting legend will be inducted into the writer’s and broadcaster’s wing of the Hockey Hall of Fame with Jay Greenberg, the longtime Philadelphia Flyers beat writer who will receive the Elmer Ferguson Award for excellence in hockey journalism.
var.st/sports
VARSITY SPORTS
MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 2013
19
Running into the new year with a twist on traditional routes A series of trails for the new and experienced jogger
Carolyn levett/tHe varsity
Peter Nash VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Running in the city can be hectic; more focus will often be spent avoiding cars, pedestrians, cyclists, and traffic lights on every block, than on the actual running. Even running on campus, a supposedly peaceful environment, can be stifling. The more routes that runners know of, the fresher their running experience will be. Runners who are looking to improve their performance on a basic route can try
the Queen’s Park circuit, one of the most popular routes on campus; not only is it quieter than running through the downtown streets, but runners will find other runners of various levels there: professional running groups, U of T groups, casual joggers, and runners looking to compare their times. This route is great for those who are prone to shin or ankle pain because there is room to run on grass and the patted-down dirt paths, both of which are softer than concrete sidewalks. No matter how experienced runners are, they can run as many or as few laps around this
circuit as they like; Queen’s Park is very accessible, and boasts beautiful scenery. Nothing beats running through scenic areas; not only do runners get their exercise, but the run will be accompanied by a sense of peace and serenity too. For those who enjoy old, towering trees and Victorian-style houses, a trip through the Annex provides a great route on which runners will enjoy the quiet, shade-covered paths. Common streets include Madison Avenue, Huron Street, St. George Street, Bedford Road, and Lowther Avenue. One route to consider is a circuit from Madison Avenue
and Lowther Avenue, to Dupont Street and Avenue Road. The best route near campus for runners who are comfortable running five kilometres or more is down Rosedale Valley Road with its official start at Park Road (just north of Church Street and Bloor Street), this route is the best escape from the surrounding city — with towering trees on both sides, minimal traffic, peace and quiet, and a plethora of shade. Turn back to campus after reaching Wellesley Park, and cut down Amelia Street, or continue down Bayview Avenue to Gerrard Street to lengthen the circuit.
Healthy eating around campus Susan Gordon VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Whether in their first year, fourth year, or somewhere in between, many students struggle with healthy eating at U of T. The fact that there are so many unhealthy options both on and around campus doesn’t help. Whether you’re a student in residence deciding what to pick up at the buffet or a commuter looking for good food nearby, choosing a good quality, wholesome, and nutritious meal is something that both your body and your brain will thank you for. Luckily, there are a lot of easy, healthy, and inexpensive food options on campus. A great place for lunch is student volunteerrun Hot Yam!, located in the Cumberland House on St. George Street, which is open from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm every Wednesday. This vegan eatery serves up “mostly local, mostly organic,” all-vegan food. For just $4, students get soup, salad, a main dish, and dessert. The food is always fresh, with the menu changing every week.
Carolyn levett/tHe varsity
If you need your vegetable fix more than once a week, Harvest Noon — a spinoff of Hot Yam! — is another great option. The restaurant occupies the second floor of the
Graduate Students’ Union building, and is open all week. It also has slightly longer hours and a wider range of options than its sister-store. Dips, fresh-baked bread, sal-
ads, soups, mains, and baked goods are all offered at affordable prices, with the menu changing every week. Sammy’s Student Exchange, a restaurant located in the basement of Hart House, is another campus restaurant with a focus on healthy alternatives. Although more costly than Hot Yam! and Harvest Noon, Sammy’s has many more options and seating space. The restaurant is open Monday to Friday from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, and Saturdays from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. There are some less nutritious options that you will have to trust yourself not to make when sticking to the healthy-eating diet; skip the sugary drinks in the cooler and go for a healthy and filling salad or main, and try not to grab a cookie while standing in line at the checkout. Healthy food can be found almost anywhere on the U of T campus — not only in the places mentioned, but also in other restaurants or dining halls. Wherever you choose to go for your meals and snacks, look for options that are unprocessed and high in nutrients so that you can stay healthy and really enjoy your time at U of T.
DIVERSIONS
20 Vol. CXXXIV, No. 1
CROSSWORD by lovatts media 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
22
27
29
31
44
45
46
24
25
26
42
43
33
35
37
11
30
32
34
10
21
23
28
9
36
38
39
40
41
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
thevarsity.ca
ACROSS
DOWN
1. Employee file stat. 4. Told all 8. Shutter piece 12. Biochemists study them 13. Courtroom bargain 14. Fight, as a war 15. Chicken order 16. Off-color 17. “Excuse me ...” 18. Like some flaws 20. Lacking luster 22. Houdini stage prop 23. Significant effect 27. Get the lead out? 29. Econ. indicator 30. Calendar square 31. Maui dance 32. Specialty, slangily 33. Sound made by a swallow 34. Advised leader? 35. Criticism 36. Quartet member 37. Kind of frog 39. Go after 40. Be threatened by sharks, say 41. The Fonz, formally 44. Promo overkill 47. “Now hear ___!” 49. “A Chorus Line” finale 50. Embarrassing loss 51. Carryall 52. Funny, but not amusing 53. Puts the squeeze on? 54. DNA component? 55. A pair, in Pamplona
1. Klutz 2. Partner of “done with” 3. Indoor ball game 4. Surgical support 5. Smart guy? 6. Without precedent 7. Roaming 8. Pogo’s milieu 9. “Well, ___-di-dah!” 10. Actuary’s concern 11. Committee pro ___ 19. Dressy occasion 21. Trickster 24. When to stop growing 25. An umpire makes it 26. Copy editor’s bane 27. Beagle or Bounty 28. Slipper choice 29. Muzzle 32. Cardinal cap 33. Short lady’s man? 35. Dawn discovery 36. Hexed 38. Burns and Allen, e.g. 39. Duvalier’s domain, once 42. Open 43. Cincinnati team 44. Buckingham Palace letters 45. “___ first” 46. Toy dog breed 48. Ad ___
Solutions in the next issue.
You’re invited to
The Varsity’s Fall Open House Who: What: Where: When:
You You eating free food, learning about opportunities at The Varsity, and meeting our masthead and staff. Our office: 21 Sussex Ave., second floor. (It’s right next to Robarts). Thursday, September 19, 3–7 pm.
Look for a new issue of The Varsity on stands around campus every Monday.