vol. cXXXvi, no. 8
T he UniversiTy
of
ToronTo’s sTUdenT newspaper since 1880
2 november 2015
TRADING SPACES
The Varsity teams up with UTM’s The Medium and UTSC’s The Underground on a cross-campus cultural experiment. Writers from all three campuses venture into the unknown to determine how we are different, and how we are alike. PG 16
STUDENT POLITICS
STUDENT LIFE
B OLLO -K A MA R A A N D WATH E Y T O DE FEND I N COU RT
WC SA C ANCELS STREETCAR PU B C RAWL
Defendants in UTSU fraud case file notice of intent to defend PG 4
Event called off after safety concerns raised PG 8
INSIDE The C-word
What students can learn from conservatism Comment PG 10
Hello, sweet prince
The Varsity sits down with Dan Mousseau before he takes the stage in Hart House Theatre’s Hamlet Arts and Culture PG 18
Collect it all
A look at The Citizen Lab’s recent research into the highly controversial Finfisher Science PG 22
Striking gold!
Varsity Blues’ Womens’ Field Hockey take OUA championship Sports PG 24
2 NEWS
T H E VA R S I T Y
M O N DAY 2 N O V E M B E R 2 015 news@thevarsity.ca
Issue 8 Vol. CXXXVI
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
21 SUSSEX AVENUE, SUITE 306 TORONTO ON M5S 1J6 (416) 946-7600 thevarsity.ca thevarsitynewspaper @TheVarsity the.varsity
MASTHEAD Alec Wilson Editor-in-Chief
editor@thevarsity.ca
James Flynn Managing Online Editor
online@thevarsity.ca
Sarah Niedoba Managing Editor Margaux Parker Creative Director
managing@thevarsity.ca creative@thevarsity.ca
Sean Smith Senior Copy Editor
copy@thevaristy.ca
Iris Robin News Editor
news@thevarsity.ca
Victoria Wicks Comment Editor
comment@thevarsity.ca
Alex McKeen Features Editor
features@thevarsity.ca
Jacob Lorinc Arts and Culture Editor
arts@thevarsity.ca
Nadezhda Woinowsky-Krieger Science Editor science@thevarsity.ca Emma Kikulis Sports Editor
sports@thevarsity.ca
Lisa Wong Design Editor
design@thevarsity.ca
Mallika Makkar Photo Editor
photo@thevarsity.ca
Julien Balbontin Illustrations Editor Shaq Hosein Video Editor Damian Klambauer Web Developer
illustration@thevarsity.ca
A shopper browses the shelves at the Trinity College Book Sale. NATHAN CHAN/THE VARSITY
video@thevarsity.ca web@thevarsity.ca
Mubashir Baweja Associate Design Editor
Teodora Pasca Associate Comment Editor
Vacant Associate Photo Editor
Jaren Kerr Associate Features Editor
Elham Numan and Diana Pham Associate Illustration Editors
Corey Van Den Hoogenbend Associate A&C Editor
Sonali Gill Associate Copy Editor
Shahin Imtiaz Associate Science Editor
Devika Desai, Emily Johnpulle and Tom Yun Associate News Editors
Vacant Associate Sports Editor
Copy Editors and Fact Checkers Matthew Boissonneault, Isabela Borges, Kieran Buckingham, Christine Glossop, Ariel Gomes, Zujajah Islam, Cassandra Javez-Layton, Tashnim Jerin, Arin Klein, Darya Kuzhetsova, Ainsley MacDougall, Hunter McGuire, Lauren Park, Corrinne Przybyslawski, Sigrid Roman, Sophia Savva, Raafia Shahid and Gabriel Wee Designers Vasileia Al Akaila, Nadine Guo, Maya Hoke, Jasjeet Matharu, Cheston Sin, Nandini Sinha, Amy Wang and Vanessa Wang
THE EXPLAINER HOW TO VOTE AT THE UTSU SGM As students remain in the board proposal vortex, the saga continues. Failure to pass a board structure means that the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) is holding a Special General Meeting (SGM), dubbed the Annual General Meeting Part 2 on November 18 to resolve it. Here are some handy instructions on how to vote, in person or by proxy.
1.
Save time and pre-register! The lineup for
onto utsu.simplyvoting.com and complete the
these meetings is pretty intense and it can be very tedious. Between November 9 and 13, you
2.
online proxy form. 5.
can pre-register online. utsu.ca/agm has more
number of the person to whom you wish to give
information on this.
your vote. Ask them for it, and enter it.
If you can’t attend the SGM, or you don’t want
6.
your soul crushed by a mind-numbing and
Parsa Jebely Business Manager
business@thevarsity.ca
3.
Cherlene Tay Business Associate Emmett Choi and Michelle Monteiro Advertising Executives 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 © 2015 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
4.
er
fi
he
r
he s
en
in
s
your proxyholder will receive an email invitation
frustrating meeting, you can still exercise your
BUSINESS OFFICE
The online form will ask you for the student
to accept your vote.
democratic right and vote through another
7.
If you are the proxyholder, accept the invitation.
person who is going to the meeting. This is called
8.
If you’re going to the meeting but can’t
proxying your vote.
pre-register, you can register at the door. Regis-
Talk to the person to whom you’d like to give your
tration will start at 4:30 PM and the lineup will be
vote and make sure that your voting preferences
long, so arrive promptly.
align with theirs.
9.
Between Tuesday November 10 at 9:00
10. Enjoy the samosas. Vote. Play SGM bingo (online
AM and Tuesday November 17 at 5:00 PM, students wishing to proxy their votes may log
Cover Photo Robarts Library at UTSG. YASSINE ELBARADIE/THE VARSITY Humanities Wing at UTSC. LOOZRBOY/CC FLICKR William G. Davis Building at UTM. JEAN-LOUIS REBELLO/THE VARSITY
Go to the meeting. soon!) and tweet @VarsityNewsUofT.
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STUDENT LIFE
Students say “yes” to fall reading week ASSU, UTSU to present proposal to Council of Deans in November IRIS ROBIN NEWS EDITOR
Arts & Science students voted overwhelmingly in favour of introducing a fall reading week for some St.George students, with 6,112 votes in favour and 491 votes against. Voter turnout was 22 per cent — higher than that of the most recent University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) spring elections. The referendum was a joint endeavor by the UTSU and the Arts & Science Students’ Union (ASSU) and happened concurrently with the UTSU by-election for a director from the Faculty of Engineering. Raffi Dergalstanian was elected with 133 votes to opponent Xuyu (Calix) Zhang’s 51. “I’m over the moon” said Vere-Marie Khan, UTSU vice-president university affairs, in reaction to the referendum result. “I’m exceptionally happy with the high voter turn out, meaning that an overwhelming amount of students came out to show their support and have their voices heard.” Abdullah Shihipar, ASSU president, echoed Khan’s delight. “We are very pleased at the results of the referendum but also at
LISA WONG/DESIGN EDITOR
the turnout,” he said. “Clearly students are very passionate about this issue and have spoken their mind clearly — they want a fall reading week.” According to Khan, the next steps are to draft a proposal to the Council of Deans, which will be presented in November. Both
Khan and Shihipar said that the council will work with them to determine the next steps. “We are working with all partners to ensure that the creation of a fall reading week has the least amount of disruption to all parties involved, including students and faculty,” Shihipar said in response to concerns about
potential consequences of a fall reading week on class schedules, residence fees, and orientation week. Shihipar said that fall reading week would likely involve moving orientation week up by two or three days, not by a week or into August. “As a result, classes would start a few days earlier,” he explained, adding that this is his speculation on the plan and that the Faculty of Arts & Science ultimately has the final say regarding the final plan. While a fall reading week at UTSG would be in effect for only the Faculty of Arts & Science, Shihipar said in a previous interview with The Varsity that the plan is to introduce a fall reading week faculty-by-faculty. At a recent UTSU Board of Directors meeting, Mathias Memmel, director for the Faculty of Music, announced that his division would also be holding a referendum on a fall reading week. The vote will take place between November 23 and 27, 2015. “I’m absolutely humbled by this experience and can only hope that with all of the newfound support of the community, we will be able to make a lasting and positive impact on the student body,” Khan said of the campaign.
ACADEMICS
Holocaust survivor comes to Victoria College Leslie Schwartz shares experience in Nazi Germany, importance of education SHANE KENNEDY
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Content warning: explicit discussion of acts of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust Leslie Schwartz travels the world educating youth about his personal experiences as a Holocaust survivor. This past week, Schwartz’s travels brought him to U of T’s Victoria College to raise awareness about society’s need for compassion. The event, which took place on October 26, was organized by Victoria College student Nicole Fogel. It featured the screening of two Holocaust documentaries and a question and answer session with Schwartz. Fogel was inspired to host the event after taking a class about the tragedy. “Leslie’s message conveys the importance of appreciating diversity in individuals,” said Fogel, emphasizing the need to promote tolerance. She explained, “We need students, as future leaders, to support ideas and initiatives that encourage acceptance of every individual.” The first film, Mulhdorf Train of Death, details the attempted slaughter of thousands of Jews by the SS during the closing days of the Second World War. The second, Horrible Things: The Children of Nazi Concentration Camps, details the horrific conditions that children in concentration camps endured. The former was produced by German university students after they had learned that one of the train routes, which they used to commute to school, was used by the Nazis to send Jews to their deaths during the war.
Leslie Schwartz, Holocaust survivor and educator, signs books and answers questions. NATHAN CHAN/THE VARSITY
Schwartz, who was among the Jews transported by the Nazis through Germany, recounted how SS guards reluctantly freed his fellow prisoners out of fear of retribution by the Allies, who were fast approaching. Schwartz was one of the few who managed to survive the massacre by taking refuge in a nearby town. Many of his closest friends did not survive. Schwartz recalled a fellow prisoner, who “was Orthodox to the point of keeping Kosher in the concentration camp,” was shot in the stomach by the SS and later died near Schwartz’ side.
In spite of the unimaginable horrors that Schwartz endured, he claims that he does not harbor any hatred towards the Germans, either on a personal level or as a nation. He attributes this in part to the random acts of kindness from German civilians who sheltered Jewish inmates who fled the SS. Schwartz remembered one woman in particular, who hid him and a couple of other inmates in her barn and provided them with “the best bread and butter I have
ever tasted in my entire life.” Schwartz went on to tell the audience, “Small acts of love have great power.” When asked what lessons the world can learn from the Holocaust, Schwartz said that education and political participation are key to ensuring that people’s rights are upheld. Quoting Martin Luther King, Schwartz reminded the audience, “we are not makers of history, we are made by history.”
4 NEWS
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Former UTSU executives Cameron Wathey and Yolen Bollo-Kamara filed notices of intent to defend within a day of each other. PUBLIC COURT DOCUMENTS
STUDENT POLITICS
Defendants to contest UTSU allegations in court olen ollo amara, ameron athe notices of intent to defend
le
IRIS ROBIN NEWS EDITOR
Responding to allegations of civil fraud, former University of Toronto Students’ Union executives Yolen Bollo-Kamara and Cameron Wathey have filed notices of intent to defend in court. Bollo-Kamara, former UTSU president, and Wathey, former UTSU vice-president internal & services, were both named alongside Sandy Hudson, former UTSU executive director, in a lawsuit initiated by the current UTSU executive. According to publicly available documents, Bollo-Kamara filed her notice of intent to defend on October 13, 2015, with Wathey filing his the following day. As of press time, The Varsity could not confirm whether or not Hudson had also filed.
A notice of intent to defend is a procedural matter. Neither notice includes details of the nature of the defence prepared or a response to the allegations. The UTSU has previously indicated that they would prefer to settle out of court. “We are open to arbitration or mediation as a way of resolving the issue, and would prefer a non-court resolution, but the advice of our legal counsel was to follow this procedure of filing a claim,” read a portion of a statement released on September 24, 2015. “Although this is a substantial course of action, the Board and Executive Committee of the UTSU have a fiduciary responsibility to use its resources responsibly to serve students.”
Should the parties wish to obtain evidence from the opposing party’s argument prior to trial, they can do so through the discovery process. This process may involve discovery of documents and examinations, in which, parties are questioned by each other under oath. In order to undergo this process, both parties must agree to a discovery plan. After discovery, the case may be set down for trial. The UTSU claims that Hudson, Bollo-Kamara, and Wathey conspired to award Hudson a payment of $247,726.40, to which, they allege, she was not entitled. The UTSU is now suing the three for the $247,726.40 plus $200,000 in damages, a sum totaling $447,726.40.
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STUDENT LIFE
UofT350 marches for divestment Fossil fuel divestment group call for change before committee recommendation RACHEL CHEN & MATTHEW FOK VARSITY CONTRIBUTORS
Ahead of the recommendations on fossil fuel divestment that U of T’s presidential advisory committee is set to make on December 4, divestment group UofT350 held a march from Sidney Smith to Simcoe Hall during a Governing Council meeting on October 29. Prior to the march, UofT350 members presented letters, along with postcards from prospective students, to the Governing Council demanding that U of T divest itself from fossil fuel holdings. According to a press release by Toronto350, UofT350’s parent group, over 200 faculty members also signed an open faculty letter. Students and faculty continued their support at the march along with community members from York University’s 350 branch. UofT350 also demonstrated solidarity with other groups; attendees filmed a support video for Fossil Free MIT’s week-long sit-in protest. Natasha Rojas, a representative of the Aboriginal Studies Students’ Union was invited to conduct land recognition. “Fossil fuel companies have directly impacted Indigenous people’s lands and health,” said Rojas in an email to The Varsity. “Even if we are in regions where we think we do not see the negative impacts, Indigenous peoples experience those impacts because of how deeply rooted the connection with land is. Indigenous peoples have always upheld their responsibility in protecting our Mother Earth and supporting Divestment is but one example on how to do so.” March organizer and second-year student, Lila Asher, believes the event was successful with roughly 150 to 200 attendees. However,
A breakdown of U of T’s investments in various fossil fuel companies in March 2014. THE VARSITY
she said there is still work to be done before the recommendation is given. “It is really important for students to be involved in issues that they care about,” Asher said. “Environmental responsibility should really be something in the forefront of a lot of students’ minds because climate change is going to impact all of our futures... We are the generation that is going to have to deal with the consequences.” Asher also said UofT350 has a good relationship with the university right now. Last
April, the group presented a divestment brief to the committee. “The university has been really impressed with the student reps in Toronto350,” said Althea Blackburn-Evans, director of news & media relations at U of T. “Their ongoing engagement and collegiality with the president’s advisory committee has really represented the university with integrity.” Blackburn-Evans said that it is difficult to say exactly what percentage of the university’s investments are in fossil fuel companies be-
cause they are usually in pooled funds. These funds can change on a day-to-day basis so direct decisions are not always possible. However, the advisory committee is considering seeking community input. U of T 350 wants the university to sell their stock holdings in 200 fossil fuel companies with the largest reserves of coal, oil, and gas over the course of five years.
STUDENT POLITICS
UTSU proxy system going online ew
tem de i ned to w e more e
ient and le
la our inten i e
TOM YUN
ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
The University of Toronto Students’ Union’s (UTSU) proxy vote system is going completely online for the first time. The new process is being implemented for the union’s Special General Meeting (SGM), to be held on November 18. In previous years, students acting as proxyholders for others who could not attend the meeting were required to pick up a proxy form from the UTSU or the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) offices. A proxy-holding student could collect the signatures and student numbers of up to ten other students on one form. Changes to the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (CNCA) resulted in proxy changes for the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on October 7, 2015; individuals proxying their vote were required to submit a form, rather than the proxy holders. The form was made available for download for the AGM, but students still had to print them out and return them to the UTSU or UTMSU office. According to the latest executive report from Ryan Gomes, UTSU vice-president internal & services, the paper system used
CHANTEL TENG/THE VARSITY
for the AGM “resulted in a lot of complaints regarding the difficulty that many encountered while proxying their votes.” Students proxying their votes will still need to fill out their own form, but that form will now be online. It will be run through SimplyVoting, the same voting system that the UTSU uses for its elections and referenda.
Students wishing to proxy out their vote can log in and enter the student number of the student to whom they wish to proxy their vote. The proxy-holding student will receive an email notification inviting them to accept the proxy vote. Proxy-holders will be able to act as a proxy for up to ten students, the same number as in previous years.
“We were already making other changes to the proxy system to align with CNCA regulations,” said Tka Pinnock, UTSU executive director, on the decision to introduce the online system for the SGM rather than the AGM in October. “We thought a gradual process of change would be more tolerable to the membership.” During the most recent UTSU Board of Directors meeting on October 30, Pinnock told the board that she consulted with Students for Barrier-free Access, who were supportive of the online system. Pinnock also said that a lot of money and staff time went into the AGM, and that this new system would be less labour and resource intensive, as there would be no need to manually process and verify the proxies. The UTSU will accept proxies from November 10 to November 17. The SGM is scheduled to be held at 5:30 pm in the OISE auditorium on November 18. The SGM was called to address business which was not considered during the October AGM. Items on the agenda include the receipt of audited financial statements, approval of the appointment of auditors, and confirmation of a new Board of Directors structure for the union.
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ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS
University College poised for renovations Work to begin in September 2016 JOSHUA GRONDIN VARSITY STAFF
University College (UC) is set to undergo a major renovation after proposed initial stages of the UC Building Revitalization Project received approval from the University of Toronto Governing Council. The project is concerned with four key elements: a focus on undergraduate students, maintaining the heritage of the building as a national historic site, improving accessibility, and contributing to the recognition of UC as the founding college, and face, of U of T. The renovations will be split into four main phases, the first and second of which have been given approval. Construction is set to begin in September 2016. The first phase includes the transition of the Laidlaw Library into the east hall of the building, using the current room for a variety of academic purposes. The west hall of the building will be converted into the ‘Clark Family Reading Room,’ named for Edmund Clark, former CEO of TD Bank, and his wife Fran, following their generous donation of $2.5 million in support of the renovation project. This phase will include many vital accessibility improvements, including an elevator in the front stairwell and ramps to all entrances of the building, as well as fundamental building repairs. The second phase of the project will see various renovations to the Croft Chapter House, the iconic circular room on the south
University College is set to undergo a revamp. MATTHEW MANHIRE/THE VARSITY
west side of the building. In an effort to promote research done at the university the room will be revamped into a conference centre. It will see various functional changes to lighting, acoustics, and technological integration, with the adjoining senior common room being used for reception. The third and fourth phases are still being planned and are pending approval, but they
will include renovations to the outdoor quad and the classrooms throughout the building. These renovations will improve the general functionality of the spaces making them more useful for the student body. University College principal Donald Ainslie hopes the renovations will help make students more aware of the unique history of the college. “We want to make
sure that when a student is in a class at UC, they can’t help but feel the special story of the University of Toronto that UC embodies; the commitment to an open, non-sectarian education.” Ainslie first began planning for the renovation with his installment in 2011. “In the first year as Principal in 2011-2012, it became apparent to me that the building wasn’t really serving twenty-first century students particularly well, and was needing some attention to make it work better for our students.” The UC Building Revitalization Project Planning Committee was established in 2014 and has been met with great support from UC students. “Everyone should be able to enjoy [UC] and I’m glad that UC is taking initiative to make the space more accessible. Other renovations will be useful as well for future students to enjoy the space while still admiring its history,” said second-year political science and criminology student Meher Singh. Gita Goolsarran, a third-year UC student, is excited for the renovations and hopes that they will help to foster a sense of community within the college. “I’m very hopeful that these renovations will give students more enjoyable spaces to study and relax, as those are actually quite limited in our college.” The first and second phases of the project are due to be completed by January 2017, but the timing is contingent on adequate security funding, as well as the construction and design processes.
STUDENT LIFE
Living Architecture Tour showcases green spaces on campus Multi-sensory experience has psychological, en ironmental ene t HARLEEN SANDHU VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
The Bamboo Garden at the Donnelly Centre. RUSABA ALAM/THE VARSITY
Students took a tour of the University of Toronto’s green spaces this week as part of a Living Architecture Tour. The tours were organized by Jonathan Silver, founder of the Living Architecture Tour, and Jess Dawe from the U of T Sustainability Office. Silver discussed the important psychological and environmental benefits of having green spaces, and specifically what benefits they could offer students. Living architecture offers a multi-sensory experience and allows students to experience a sensory interaction with nature in an otherwise dull, disconnected environment. According to Dawe, green spaces in
a workplace environment have been shown to reduce absenteeism and increase productivity. On a university campus, green spaces can help students and staff to feel more relaxed. “The benefits for students I can classify as psychological benefits, and it’s particularly what I was saying about the multi sensory experience,” said Silver. “Green living infrastructure, green walls especially, you can smell them and you can hear them and you can touch them, and you can feel the humidity on your skin, and that sensory kind of environment brings you out of your head and puts you into your body.”
“So people who are always thinking too much and people who are thinking a lot and people who are students have a chance to stop thinking and to be in their bodies and that feels really good and it’s restorative, it reduces anxiety, it reduces stress, and that’s going to help students a lot, through stressful periods and to produce better work.” The green wall at the Exam Centre is a space that many students will have the chance to appreciate by the end of their first year. The dense foliage absorbs carcinogens like benzene and formaldehyde, and creates oxygen, which is pumped throughout the entire building.
In addition to aesthetic value, living architecture has important environmental benefits as well. Green roofs, usually comprised of succulents, act as a sponge to absorb excess rainwater; every square metre of roof surface requires about 500 litres of water each year, not including snow or hail, according to Silver. Many people are unaware of Toronto’s green spaces. Often they are hidden spaces such as rooftops, or inside private buildings not accessible to the public. Through the Living Architecture Tour, Silver said that he aimed to increase awareness of these spaces and their various benefits.
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STUDENT LIFE
PROVINCIAL POLITICS
Robarts hosts Alternate Reality Game
Ontario introduces legislation to address sexual violence
Unique event part of Open Access Week
Campuses would be required to have standalone sexual violence policy
The province introduced measures to combat sexual violence on campuses MICHAEL CHAHLEY/THE VARSITY
EMILY JOHNPULLE A student uses the services at the Robarts Media Commons. DENIS OSIPOV/THE VARSITY
DEVIKA DESAI
ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
As part of the University of Toronto’s annual participation in International Open Access Week students were invited to interact with an Alternate Reality Game (ARG) taking place in Robarts. Open Access Week seeks to promote unrestricted access to scholarly materials. The University of Toronto Libraries’ (UTL) Scholarly Communications and Copyright Offices hosted the game between October 19 and 23. Both creators and players deemed ‘Open Robarts’ to be a huge success. “We were looking to do something different than the previous years for the event and an alternate reality game was something that the library had never done before,” said Daniela Cancilla, UTL copyright outreach librarian. The ARG consisted of a storyline about a conspiracy theory that something strange was occurring at Robarts. “Players worked with this group of ‘investigators’ to discover what was happening at the library,” said Cancilla, describing the game. “As players got more involved with the game by exploring the services and departments of the library, they would discover that a secret society called the Vayika were recruiting members to help oppose a group who seek knowledge as a means of power.” Winners of the game could choose to join the Vayika and become protectors of knowledge, join the Kambre as part of the conspiracy theorist group, or join the Danand as a default if they do neither, a group that seeks to maintain the status quo. Cancilla said the inspiration for the game came from a web comic created by Toronto author Mark Foo and artist David Oxley, in which Robarts was featured. “Our comic is about a reporter who is looking into Toronto’s ‘ugly’ brutalist buildings and finds a conspiracy hiding a dark secret
beneath the city,” explained Foo. He found that his experience writing the ARG was similar to writing the comic. “If you put an interesting lens on history, then start digging, you’ll find all kinds of coincidences and events that just fit. After that, it’s a matter of lining them up [in] a way so people will pay attention and hopefully find [it] interesting,” he added. Oxley explained that his ‘head-first obsession’ with escape room games made learning about ARGs an easy transposition as there is a large crossover between the two. “Using the library’s actual programmers, printers and cataloging was imperative to create the idea that this game had a foot within our everyday reality,” he said. According to Cancilla, the game achieved an unprecedented level of popularity , gaining 10,552 hits from people all over the world. Eli Goodfriend, a winner and remote gameplayer, said that he enjoyed the game and praised its design. “It was fantastic, the game designers really did a good job of making play fun for remote players too. Secret societies are always a good theme, and the overall message about open access to information was well done.” Cancilla hoped that that the game would make library events seem more relevant and fun to students. “Even if a few people are more aware about open access and what it could do for them in their scholarship, it would be worth it.” Due to the success of the game, Cancilla mentioned the possibility of bringing it back: “we were so pleased at how receptive people were towards the game. It’s possible that we might bring it back.”
ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
This past week saw the Government of Ontario introduce the Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan Act on October 27. The legislation, if passed, would help make homes, campuses, workplaces, and communities safer and to support survivors of sexual violence. The Ontario government released a statement clarifying the changes; the legislation would require “[every] publicly assisted college and university and private career college to have a stand-alone sexual violence policy and to review [their policy] at least once every three years.” Moreover, campuses would be required to report incidences of sexual violence to the minister or superintendent, as well as on the effectiveness of their initiatives to address sexual violence. Student input will also be required during policy development and review processes. Celia Wandio, a fourth-year student and founder of Students Against Sexual Violence U of T, believes the act is a good first step, but that it is not enough to create the change that is needed. “Simply requiring that universities create policies does not necessitate that these policies be good, nor does it mean they will necessarily be followed and implemented properly,” Wandio said. “We’ve seen this problem in the US: even though they’ve had legislation like Title IX for ages, the problem of sexual violence persists with inadequate action from university administrations.” U of T has responded to calls for action against sexual violence by forming the Advisory Committee to the President and Provost on Preventing and Responding to Sexual Violence. The committee is not in charge of developing policy, but will make recommendations to the president and provost this year includ-
ing prevention efforts, how to ensure reports of sexual violence are addressed, and making sure sufficient support is available to victims. However, if the legislation does not pass, it is unclear whether U of T will take the necessary steps to develop a sexual violence policy outside of provincial obligation. “I quite frankly do not think U of T would be considering updating and adding to its sexual violence policies and procedures without internal and external pressure,” Wandio said. “We are very supportive of the Premier’s action plan, and the committee is certainly taking the proposed legislation into consideration as they determine what their recommendations will be,” said Althea BlackburnEvans, director of news & media relations at U of T. “That said, at this stage it’s premature to speculate about what the committee will recommend and if that will result in new or revised policies.” Wandio said that policy changes should not come from the top down and that students as well as the administration should be able to work together. “I am trying to remain optimistic about what U of T will produce, and I hope students and the administration are able to work together on this, but we need to avoid becoming complacent. Whatever changes they make or don’t make, they need to know that students will be watching and holding them accountable,” she said. Outside of campuses, the proposed legislation would create specific employer duties to protect workers, remove the limitation period for civil proceedings based on sexual assault, shorten the time it takes to end a tenancy agreement for those experiencing domestic or sexual violence, and eliminate the limitation period for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault to make a compensation application to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.
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STUDENT LIFE
WCSA Streetcar Pubcrawl event cancelled after allegations of sexual assault surface WCSA cites poor ticket sales as reasons for cancellation EMILY COLERO
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
The annual Woodsworh College Students’ Association (WCSA) Halloween Streetcar Pubcrawl was cancelled one day before it was scheduled to take place. The cancellation was announced on the WCSA website on October 26 and cited low-ticket sales as the reason behind the cancellation. According to WCSA’s statement, students who bought tickets will be able to obtain a refund. WCSA did not state whether allegations of sexual assault and rape at previous WCSA pubcrawls were related to the cancellation of this year’s event. Lisa Meyer, a fourth-year Woodsworth College student, co-organized a boycott of the pub crawl. “[The] Streetcar Pubcrawl has been a best-seller event for WCSA for the past five years. The fact that it did not sell out the year that students were finally informed of the previous assaults is very telling,” Meyer said. Meyer said that she was pleased the event did not take place but expressed disappointment that it was a lack of ticket sales that prompted WCSA to cancel. “I am glad that the event was cancelled [but] it is somewhat frustrating that it was cancelled due to poor sales (as a result of the boycott) rather than WCSA deciding to do what was right,” she added. Both Meyer and Celia Wandio, founder of Student Against Sexual Violence U of T and fellow boycott organizer, expressed their
gratitude for WCSA’s co-operation with them. However, both students said that they have some recommendations on how WCSA can make their events safer. “Olivia Hauck, the WCSA president, and Teeka Cookson, the vice-president internal, seem to be on the right track regarding promoting safety at their events, but they have a long way to go, which is why I stand by my recommendation for them to have dry events for the remainder of the year or longer, if necessary, to prove their commitment to making WCSA events safer,” said Meyer. Wandio hopes the cancellation of the pub crawl makes a impression on other student societies. “I am happy that WCSA cancelled the event; I am even more happy that members of WCSA have been eager to speak with us about how to make future events safer. I hope all college councils have paid attention to this and understand that it is their responsibility to ensure that events they host are safe for all students,” she said. WCSA had planned to make changes to make this year’s pubcrawl safer, which included an increased number of “sober leaders,” starting the event earlier, and a streetcar to take students back to campus at the end of the night. WCSA did not release any public statements regarding the alleged history of sexual assaults at the WCSA Streetcar Pubcrawl events. As of press time, WCSA did not respond to requests for comment.
WCSA cancelled its annual Halloween Streetcar Pubcrawl following allegations of sexual assault at previous events. DON GUNN/CC FLICKR
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New lease oN life for UTS o
a liated hi h
hool ma
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ollowin tentati e deal
EMMA COMPEAU VARSITY STAFF
The University of Toronto Schools location at Bloor and Spadina. SNEHA DASGUPTA/THE VARSITY
The University of Toronto and its affiliated high school, the University of Toronto Schools (UTS), have reached a tentative agreement to renew the secondary school’s lease for an additional 50 years. This deal comes after the University of Toronto rejected a $48-million proposal to refurbish UTS in 2011 and stated that the lease would not be renewed. The UTS would have had to vacate the premises by 2021. The school, located at Bloor and Spadina, has been standing since 1910 and began as an all-boys’ school affiliated with the university. According to Scott Mabury, U of T vicepresident university operations, the decision not to renew the lease began in 2006 when administrative support for UTS was on the
decline and questions were raised about the economic viability of the school. Since that time, UTS has stepped up to the plate and demonstrated its operational financial stability, in addition to tightening its relationships with various faculties at U of T including the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, the Rotman school of Commerce, and the Munk School of Global Affairs. This demonstration prompted three years of discussions beginning in 2012, which resulted in the new tentative agreement. The relationship between U of T and UTS has evolved on a mutually beneficial basis. While UTS reports to the provost informationally, the university does not have a say over the curriculum or activities of the school.
According to Jim Fleck, chair of the board at UTS, the new lease comes with renovations to the 105-year-old building, which is also a heritage site. These renovations include 70,000 square feet of refurbished space as well as 70,000 square feet of new space behind the building. These proposed renovations will be conducted in phases over the course of four years, during which time students will still be able to attend the school. Changes to the historic building include a renewal of the façade, the addition of a 700-seat auditorium, modernized labs, a double gymnasium, and a black box theatre. Fleck predicts that the cost of the renovations will be in the ballpark of $55 million
and will be fundraised by UTS. According to Mabury, U of T will not be paying for the renovations, which contributed to the university’s decision to continue its relationship with the school. Mabury said that U of T students would also benefit from the new lease. “U of T students will have access to the new auditorium that will be built for large classes and new courses, and while the university will pay operation costs, the building costs will be paid by UTS,” he said. U of T’s highest governing body, the Governing Council, still needs to approve the agreement. The vote is set for December 15. Following the vote, the renovations will follow a formal process of approvals prior to commencing construction.
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2 November 2015
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E L G N A T H G I R E TH What students can learn from conservatism ARTICLE BY JEFFERY CHEN AND ILLUSTRATION BY CORALS ZHENG VARSITY STAFF AND VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
T
o the casual observer of Canadian politics, it would seem that on October 19, our country underwent a seismic societal shift worthy of the Revelations. The public roared with delight as the Second Coming of Trudeau toppled Harper's Conservatives from an almost decade long grip on power. Unfortunately, this discourse of triumph has demonized the Conservative Party and distracted many from the positives of conservatism. Indeed, the biggest sources of information among young voters — the Internet and television — are crammed with Tumblr facts, buzzwords, and easily-digestible talking points that all seem to point to one stereotype: Conservatives are either overly religious gun lovers, or corporate businessmen driven by greed. Liberals, on the other hand, are on the 'right side of history'. In other words, Right is wrong, and Left is right. It is easy to see why conservatism has fallen out of favour with youth, considering the prejudices perpetuated by those who don the ‘conservative’ mantle (see 'niqab debate'). It is important, however, to recognise that the Glenn Becks
of this world are not so much con- name. ‘Conservative’ has become Sowell once mockingly wrote. The servatives as they are con artists. associated with a whole range of problem with this is the fact that Conservatism, in its boiled- words from ‘redneck,’ to ‘inf lex- so-called truth-sayers become blind down philosophical form, often ible,’ to ‘unimaginative.’ Since to other ideas, arrogant in their abilhas little to do with the political the counter-cultural movements ity to lead the way. Indeed, history parties claiming the word on the of the 60’s and 70’s, many young shows that the ideological motor for democratic stage. The nature of people have created an identity colonial atrocities were 'enlightened' electoral politics in most Western around the bohemian, the re- social engineers trying to export libdemocracies force ideologically bellious, and the unorthodox – eral ideas such as democracy, Parliasimilar, albeit distinct, varieties all words with strong connota- ment, and legal codes to indigenous of conservatism together. This tions to the term ‘liberal.’ Yet, communities. results in a monolithic political the philosopher Roger Scruton The reasoning behind preserving bloc (essentially, the Conserva- makes an excellent point when their existing traditions are, in fact, tive Party of much more that democrain line with CONSERVATISM IS NOT SO MUCH ABOUT ORTHODOXY AS IT IS cy). Conservaconservative tism’s essential thinking than INCREMENTALISM: SMALL STEPS FORWARD GUIDED BY EMPIRICAL spirit, howevwith liberalism. er, is a simple RESULTS, WHICH IS A COMMENDABLE PRINCIPLE BY MOST STANDARDS. This is because set of ideas conservatism that stress the is based on the importance of belief that a personal freedom and tradition. It observing that the free-spirit government has limits to what it advocates for a healthy scepticism rebellion of liberalism appeals can accomplish. It rejects massive of radical ideas, and rejects uto- to youth culture, the media they centralized bureaucracies with litpian, idealistic solutions in favour consume, campus culture, and tle connection to a state’s disparate of those founded on experience- environment essentially espouse communities in favour of local govbased evidence. Conservatism is the same beliefs. Considering ernance, which is better informed not so much about orthodoxy as it this, how unorthodox can young from hundreds of years of on-theis incrementalism: small steps for- liberals really be? ground experience. ward guided by empirical results. What students often ignore is that While radicals may have good Perhaps one explanation for anti-establishment ideologies are intentions, a blind faith in utopia conservatism's failure to attract founded on the belief that their fol- and categorical eschewal of the young people can be found in the lowers are the sole holders of truth existing system often devolves semantic associations with the – the ‘anointed ones,’ as Thomas into nihilism, which provides no
real direction towards creating a progressive solution. If anything, such attitudes will bring down institutions that have kept our society and identities stable for so long. The youth set to inherit society need to realize that the counterculture has become the dominant culture, and that one should not always replace the traditional with what merely sounds best. Conservatives need to reconnect their values with those of the youth, and an important first step is to stop the smear campaign set against the very idea of Conservatism and conservatives. Politics are not a battle between the right and wrong, or the progressive versus the bigoted. It is time for the media to stop ostracizing and to start recognizing that both conservatism and liberalism are necessary pendulums to keep the clockwork of Parliament from swinging too far in either direction. Jeffery Chen is a third-year student at Trinity College studying English and European studies. His column appears every three weeks.
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COMMENT 11
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Gender income inequality is a harsh reality How the wage gap is hurting women in the workforce
MIRKA LOISELLE/THE VARSITY
NAOMI STULEANU
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Jennifer Lawrence recently wrote an essay sharing her experience of gender income inequality in Hollywood. After the Sony hack, realizing she was being paid considerably less than her male co-stars, she expressed frustration at refraining from negotiating for better pay, lest she be perceived as “spoiled” or “difficult.” This problem is not exclusive to the US. Canadian women make 73 cents for every dollar men earn in full-year, full-time positions. Statistics Canada has also found that female average annual income is $32,100, with males making an average of $48,100, The Toronto Star has reported women earn 31.5 per cent less than men in Ontario. Many have argued that this gap is natural, given that women tend to enter lower paying jobs than men. Margaret Wente at The Globe and Mail, for instance, suggests: “Instead of sociology, [women] should take petroleum engineering, which pays three or four times as much. That would close the gap in no time.” This line of reasoning is erroneous. Even if we disaggregate the statistics to situations in which men and women are in the same occupation, they are still paid unequal wages. In fact, a 2012 study by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) looked at men and women only a year out of college and already found a 7 per cent gap in wages, even when “school selectivity, grades, choice of major, choice of occupation, and hours-worked were taken into account.” Perhaps the wage gap is due, then, to women’s apparent lack of ambition or willingness to negotiate for higher salaries. Again, this is a lazy argument: Catalyst’s 2011 longitudinal study of leading business schools in the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia reports that “when women did all the things they have been told will help them get ahead — using the same tactics as men — they still advanced less than their male counterparts and had slower pay growth.”
As The Globe and Mail reported in 2012, the pay gap may simply be a function of discriminatory assignment of raises — when 184 managers were put in a scenario to negotiate salaries with employees who had identical skills and responsibilities, they awarded men raises nearly 2.5 times larger than they did for women. However, let’s assume that the wage gap is entirely due to differences in women’s occupation, hours worked, or failure to negotiate. It must be underlined that such “choices” are often products of gender stereotypes, and are not entirely the “fault” of women themselves. For instance, many employers assume women will want to start a family instead of focusing on their job, fearing they will lose employees who will go on maternity leave. Manager surveys have shown that employers will discriminate against young women, preferring older women, or better yet, men. This pushes women towards part-time work and lower-wage careers. The same gender stereotypes of women as being naturally caring and affectionate means they continue to bear the burden of household responsibilities. Indeed, Statistics Canada has reported that women spend more than double the average number of hours that men do taking care of children. This is also equal to more than one and a half times the average number of hours that men spent on domestic work. Clearly, this would take women’s time away from the hours they’re able to spend in the office. As for negotiation, Lawrence’s essay highlights the way women are penalized for attempting to negotiate — women who speak up and ask for more are seen as antagonistic or overly demanding. Indeed, Hannah Riley Bowles from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government has conducted several experimental studies that confirm the social cost of bargaining salaries is higher for women than it is for men. Knowing this, it seems unfair to blame women for failing to negotiate. However, there are avenues for change. Ryerson University compiles and releases all faculty university-wide average salaries by department, allowing faculty to compare their pay to others and appeal for a raise if they are unsatisfied. Furthermore, at McMaster University, the base salary of female faculty was raised by $3,515 last July to combat bias in favour of male faculty. If employers around the world could adopt gender pay equality practices similar to these universities, we could work towards global income equality. Do not blame female employees for the income wage gap, because it isn’t for lack of trying. Women are not less qualified, working less, or making lower-wage career choices. Female labour is as vital to companies as the labour provided by male employees, and women deserve to be valued for their efforts. Naomi Stuleanu is a second-year student at Victoria College studying criminology and psychology.
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Student union incompatibility What astrology and breakups can tell us about the AGM ALEX VERMAN VARSITY STAFF
The University of Toronto Student's Union (UTSU) Annual General Meeting (AGM), which took place on October 7, occurred during the last legs of Mercury’s retrograde cycle, which is a notably disadvantageous time for anything concerned with communication, details, and clarity. It is a time, astrologically speaking, of misinformation, foiled plans, and exposed errors. Indeed, students spent hours in a hostile environment where the most important item on the agenda — establishing a new Board of Directors structure — failed to pass. As AGMs are one of the only ways the University of Toronto Mississauga Student Union (UTMSU) and the UTSU can come together on political governance matters, the experience of this past AGM is as good an opportunity to ref lect on the current relationship between the two political entities. The relationship between the UTMSU and the UTSU is the institutional equivalent of an angst-ridden long-distance relationship, like staying together with a grade 12 boyfriend who goes to school in the States, and only has time to Skype every other weekend. Each partner has a life that exists almost entirely independently of the other, and on the rare occasions when they do intersect, it feels strained and useless. The UTMSU fee diversion arrangement sees UTM students put money into the UTSU, and then have their funds almost entirely returned to them, and managed as the UTSMU sees fit. This makes sense at face value, since UTM is geographically separate from the St. George campus, and its leadership knows its students’ needs far better than those at the downtown campus could ever hope to. But if the UTMSU is run by a network of largely competent and politically progressive individuals who are devoted to improving their campus and providing for their constituents, then why does it need the UTSU as a babysitter? The vestigial, paternalistic presence of the UTSU operates as a formality. Worse, it seems to be producing more harm than good — apart from stalling the administrative evolution
of the Board of Directors, UTM and St. George students are often pitted on opposite ends of the AGM debate, fracturing our already fragile university identity. So the question here is not whether UTM students are part of the UTSU, or whether or not they should be represented. It is currently a fact that the UTMSU is part of the UTSU, and within this structure, UTM students would deserve, require, and demand effective representation. Rather, the question is a further step back: should the UTSU and UTSMU even stay together? Since the UTMSU already runs itself, it shouldn’t need to be subjected to these yearly spectacles of privilege and disdain; there is no point for a body to decide the future of issues that only affect it tangentially. With many relationships, two partners can both be wonderful people and yet keep falling into petty fights and protracted arguments. The things they need from a relationship aren’t being offered, or the things they value aren’t shared by their partner, or what once felt like a real lasting connection has become rare moments few and far between. Such is the status of UTSU and UTMSU’s current relationship. If the AGM was any indication, many members at UTM and UTSG hold drastically different ideas about the purpose, interests, and applicability of items as basic as their organizational structure. These different ideas can have dramatic spoiling effects on the future of the UTSU. As such, in light of the approaching SGM, we should ask ourselves if this is an institutional arrangement that offers any tangible benefits in return for a confusing unhappy marriage between two functionally and geographically distinct unions. Maybe we can look back on this past period of Mercury and ask ourselves if we’d be better off just staying friends. Alex Verman is a fourth-year student at New College studying political science. He is a member of the ASSU executive. The views expressed here are his own.
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Following the election of the Liberal majority in Parliament, and the relegation of the New Democratic Party to third-party status, the NDP party faithful, predictably took to the media to express their discontent. Readers were often cautioned not to celebrate, as the Liberal’s sweep hardly represented a victory for the “true progressive left.” Consider former U of T student and The Varsity Editor-inChief Luke Savage’s article in Jacobin, which deemed Trudeau’s win a “hollow victory” for Canada, and urged that we should stop “settling for less.” What most of these articles fail to address is that the NDP is no longer viewed as vastly different from the Liberals. Perhaps an implicit recognition of this is that Savage did not once reference Mulcair’s platform and the contemporary NDP. Instead, he painted an idyllic vision of the NDP as a “third current” to the dominant parties defined by its devotion to social justice. He hearkened back to the NDP as the party that brought Canada Medicare. Yet in the past federal election, the NDP's economic platform fell further right than that of the Liberals’. In a time when Canada is entering a recession, it is questionable at best why a socially progressive party like the NDP would recommend austerity measures. On the other hand, Trudeau’s willingness to engage in deficit spending was popular with the Canadian public and is widely seen as a turning point that differentiated the Liberals both from the other parties and, as Canadian Business put it, from Ottawa’s “decades-long obsession with balanced budgets.”
In response to this, some will surely point to other problematic non-economic issues that the Liberals supported. Let’s consider the Barbaric Cultural Practices Act to start. This bill, practically speaking, does nothing of importance: it simply reasserts that things like honour killings are illegal in Canada. The key issue with the bill was the way it was presented, namely in an Islamophobic, race-baiting manner. However, the Liberal party clearly addressed this issue in Parliament, amidst recommendations to change the name of the bill. They also highlighted that “barbaric culture” discourse directed towards Muslim groups is unwarranted, because acts of polygamy and forced marriage manifest in Christian groups in British Columbia and Jewish groups in Quebec. Essentially, the issues surrounding this topic are not exclusive to Muslims. The Liberals’ support for Bill C-51 is another bone of contention amongst progressive leftists. Yet, the Liberals are set to reform the legislation such that it will hardly resemble the original document, thereby avoiding some of the problematic consequences that originally came with it. Most notably, the Liberals will repeal the clause that supposedly allowed judges to authorize civilian spies to violate Charter rights, and create an all-party oversight committee for national security matters. In fact, the Globe and Mail’s justice columnist, Sean Fine, wonders of C-51: “will there be anything left once the Liberals start tweaking and repealing?” Lastly, Trudeau’s recruitment of former police chief Bill Blair has routinely been condemned, given
that Blair is a known supporter of carding and was in charge when instances of police brutality occurred over the course of the G20 summit. It bears reminding, however, that all three major parties tried to recruit Blair; in fact, the NDP was the first to do so. The loss of excellent NDP parliamentarians, such as Megan Leslie and Andrew Cash, is rightly bemoaned. However, what Savage refers to as the “new political dynamic” of the 2011 Orange Crush, is not likely to be as missed by most Canadian who are more likely to remember 2011-2015 as a period of quasi-authoritarian rule under a Conservative majority. Further, this election saw a record 10 indigenous MPs, eight of them Liberal candidates, brought into office. Additionally, 88 female MPs were elected into office, while Trudeau has made an unprecedented promise to have a gender balanced Cabinet. Following nine years under Harper, I for one prefer a Liberal majority with a strong mandate to roll back the Conservatives’ changes — including on controversial issues such as C-51 and the Barbaric Cultural Practices Act — as opposed to the uncertainty and the spectre of a return to a Conservative government presented by a Liberal-NDP minority government. Healthy skepticism is good; let’s not idolize the Liberals, or glorify the NDP. Instead, let’s hold Trudeau to his promises, and stay hopeful about the potential for change. Sasha Boutilier is a third-year student at St. Michael’s College studying political science and ethics, society & law.
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Whose heritage is it anyway? Proposals at the ‘Innovative Design and Ideas’ competition neglect the diversity U of T ought to stand for
Graphic renditions of proposed changes to King's College Circle. COURTESY OF LANDMARK COMMITTEE
MATHEW MONTEVIRGEN and GRACE TRAN VARSITY CONTRIBUTORS
According to the architects and planners bidding for a potential UTSG revitalization contract, one of the primary factors holding us back from enjoying our campus is that King’s College circle is not actually a perfect circle. According to one group, investing money into normalizing King’s College Circle would be to ensure that the space symbolizes “complete democracy” and “unity” across campus. This was one of many less than insightful suggestions presented in mid-September as part of the university’s 'Innovative Ideas and Design' competition for the revitalization of major public spaces at UTSG. Other proposed changes included: digging under King’s College Circle to carve out an underground parking space; creating a pond in front of Hart House to commemorate Taddle Creek (the buried waterway upon which Philosopher’s Walk is now located); and tilting King’s College Circle so that it sits on an angle. In addition to avoiding the practical question of how much this will cost, the proposals to transform U of T into a “grand,” “ceremo-
nious,” pedestrian-friendly space fall short of their goals to reclaim the space for students and to showcase the heritage of U of T’s land. The PowerPoint slides that feature images of fit white students enjoying the newly revitalized spaces failed to address exactly whose heritage these proposals are attempting to preserve. We argue that the projects perpetuate an identity based on social exclusion. Take, for instance, how the presentations consistently emphasized a commitment to preserving the “memory of tradition” at U of T. While “heritage trees,” “indigenous plants,” and “indigenous granite tradition” were cited in the presentations as examples of motifs from the past. Yet, noticeably absent from this history was any acknowledgement of the Indigenous presence, activity, or usage of the land upon which U of T was built. The theme of creating and maintaining a "dignified space" at U of T was demonstrated using photos from the 1890's; these photos of uninhabited land and buggies driven by men in top hats were meant to reflect the history of Taddle Creek, but these presentations neglected to mention that the ravine was the primary place for the Anishinabek to fish for salmon and trout.
Images like these invoke the colonial notion of terra nullius: the idea that the land our university was built upon was empty and thus ripe for the taking. If we are set on preserving and respecting motifs of the past, then what is missing from all four proposals is an examination of the rich, layered history of the land upon which U of T now stands, as well as accounts of the diverse people and purposes it serves. These projects are part of a greater dialogue about the institutional erasure of history. For example, students often forget that the university’s “heritage” included its identity as a space only accessible to bourgeois white men. Students often refer to University College’s quad with a sense of pride by recalling its connection to Sir Daniel Wilson, the university’s president from 1889 to 1892. What many of us seem to have forgotten is that Sir Wilson desired to keep young women out of the institution for fear of ‘distracting’ male students from their studies. A dignified space during his tenure, then, was a space where young women were socially excluded. This is certainly a part of the university’s history that we should not be promoting today. If the design competition’s goal is to com-
memorate the traditions of the land, it only succeeds in commemorating a linear, colonial, masculine history, at the expense of excluding and erasing any others. If U of T truly strives for “unity” and promotion of “democracy”, then spending thousands on normalizing King’s College Circle into a perfect circle is not the solution. It must address the more significant structural, social, and political barriers that students and staff experience on a daily basis. The last presentation ended with a supposedly inspiring visual of a geometrically perfect King’s College Circle. “This is what the future of U of T can, and should, and will, look like,” the presenter concluded. But recalling the smiling faces of the uniformly fit, white students on the screen, we wondered whether this is the kind of ‘future’ towards which U of T should be striving. Mathew Montevirgen and Grace Tran are graduate students at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies.
Chronicling the case for free lunch ACTIVISTS ACROSS CANADA DEMAND A UNIVERSAL BASIC INCOME
ARTICLE BY MALONE MULLIN AND ILLUSTRATIONS BY CORALS ZHENG VARSITY STAFF AND VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
I
n 1774, an English rope maker named Thomas Paine moved to colonial Philadelphia. Upon discovering fertile ground for political experiments, Paine set out to found a nation like none other. One of Paine’s works, “Agrarian Justice,” proposed a grant of £15 paid to every man and woman upon reaching the age of majority (some $2,000 in present day US currency), a sum to be dispersed universally and unconditionally. His vision never materialized, but the idea lives on to this day, embraced around the world by a loose network of activist groups arguing for a radical update to our conception of the welfare state. They, like Paine, consider the “basic income guarantee” a right of citizenship itself.
THE PERSONAL REVENUE REVOLUTION Here in Canada, the Basic Income Canada Network (BICN) — a hodgepodge of municipal organizations — works to convince local politicians that a basic cost of living grant will do wonders for our collective quality of life. They reason that, given our nation’s material abundance, they reason, a reshuffling of federal tax and provincial welfare systems could present Canada’s poorest factions with opportunities the private sector will simply never offer. What’s more, they claim, the giveaway will preserve economic health rather than hamper it within the context of a capitalist system. After all, it is predicated on the notion that all people have an income, making them viable consumers. Over the summer, I interviewed members of the BICN. They were all aware of — and had much to say in response to — arguments against a basic income. As they see it, these objections are why we aren’t all already getting our cheques in the mail. Arguments include that the grant would be too expensive, that the poor would be disinclined to seek work, that capital flight would pose a threat to market stability — none of which they say, according to empirical data from trial models run here and around the world, are legitimate. To them, all that’s left is the job of convincing both the public and Parliament that a basic income is good for everyone. This, is where students come in. Two years ago, Queen’s University started their own basic income group under the impetus of professor emeritus Toni Pickard. Pickard says they’ve been struggling to convince the Queen’s community of basic income’s benefits. The intuitive resistance, she tells me, often takes the shape of mistrust in the plan’s viability where production and fairness are concerned. Yet Pickard insists that studies defy these objections. “It’s just poor bashing, that’s all,” she tells me. One of the most promising trials Pickard refers to took place in Manitoba between 1974-1979. Dubbed “mincome,” both the federal and provincial government funded a grant totalling $16,000 per individual in today’s dollar, handed out to everyone regardless of prior standing or occupation. A family of two received a little over $20,000. Yet despite the giveaway, people didn’t stop going to work — the local economy, rather than suffering, remained stable. The mincome grant provided a solid basis for the economy to flourish, as it established a populace with purchasing power. But the experiment ended, and no large-scale model was ever implemented.
Average student debt in Canada
$27,000
A FUTURE WORTH FIGHTING FOR Of all the activists I’ve spoken with in the last few months, not one has shrugged off my mention of student involvement. On the contrary, they stress that students’ voices are the most likely to make a difference. “If a student group forms under the banner of basic income and begins putting pressure on the political class… that’s how you move forward, and that’s how it’s going to happen,” says Jon Sanderson, founder of Basic Income Toronto, a local group affiliated with the BICN. “But right now it is really just voices in the wilderness. A student group is going to have so much more power.” According to Sanderson and his colleagues, the push for basic income will have to come from the ground up — campus groups, community rallies, and letters to the councillors in our own wards could make an impact. And as students, he says, we ought to have the greatest interest in turning the concept into public policy. It’s our future, after all, that a basic income can fortify. The world we’re graduating into is one defined by precarious work and increasing job automation. Nearly half of all paid positions in Toronto — 44 per cent and rising — don’t offer steady hours, a living wage, or anything resembling job security, according to a 2015 study by the United Way and McMaster University on precarious employment. Furthermore, increasing job automation only looks to amplify precarious work and the problem of insufficient income. A recent cover article in The Atlantic bemoaned a projection that in 20 years’ time, robots and computer programs will fill just under half of all existing American posts. These challenges, say basic income advocates, necessitate a closer look at how we disperse wealth in this country, and will mean substantial systemic overhaul, something we ought to be starting now, before the situation worsens. But even in the face of these more obvious difficulties, one of the most daunting hurdles for a national basic income policy involves the idea of merit, or lack thereof.
Average cost of public health insurance for Canadian families through taxes in 2014:
$3,592 - $11,786
Average rent for a one-bedroom in Toronto, 2013:
REDEFINING WORK TO WORK FOR US In Paine’s day, “shot drill” was a common form of exercise for military prisoners. It involved forcing convicts to pick up a lead ball, often weighing thirty pounds, and carry it some distance to a dropping point — only to pick it up and bring it back again. Work was done simply for the sake of work. Prisoners didn’t deserve to be fed and sheltered, held the reigning belief, without giving up their time in return. Likewise, today, those opposed to a basic income often decry the unemployed for laziness and incompetence, claiming that handing out free money will only burden the hardworking and perpetuate undeserved entitlement. Rejecting this concept remains at the core of the income revolution. Rather than measuring time in billable hours, we might begin to see it as a treasure better spent in meaningful pursuits, including unpaid labour such as caring for infants or the elderly. “To me the use of the word ‘work’ is an abomination,” says Sheila Regehr, chairperson for the BICN. “People don’t reduce their effort [upon receiving a basic income]. What the studies show is they trade paid work for other kinds of valuable work. So the trade off is not ‘shall I sleep an extra morning instead of going to work?’ the trade off is “shall I spend some more time raising my own kids? Shall I spend some more time going to school and learning a new skill?’ It’s not laziness. It’s just not that.” Following Paine’s theoretical vein, redefining the idea of material rights itself may be integral to the success of the movement. And as basic income supporters would remind us, universities have always been hotbeds of ideological transformation. Igniting change, they warn, requires our particular spark. Mullin’s full investigation into the Basic Income landscape will be available in The Varsity’s fall magazine later this month
$1,035
Weekly food cost for a family of four:
$136.28
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ARTS&CULTURE 2 November 2015
arts@thevarsity.ca
The Terrence Donnelly Centre at UTM. JEAN-LOUIS REBELLO/THE VARSITY
MARIAN MENDOZA VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
FROM CAMPUS TO CAMPUS Three writers, three newspapers, three campuses — worlds collide In the chaos of our daily lives as students, we often forget about the world outside of our campus. We run from class to class, nap at the nearest libraries, and study 'til the cows come home. On occasion it’s helpful to remind ourselves that across the GTA there are thousands of other students sharing these experiences, albeit in different settings. This past week The Varsity teamed up with The Medium and The Underground to explore student life at campuses other than our own. A UTSG student bushwhacked her way through the thickets of UTM; a UTM student braved the foreign land of UTSC; and a UTSC student weaved in and out of the chaos of UTSG. Their journeys were rigorous, depleting, and undeniably educational. Here, the three writers share their accounts of the campuses they visited.
O
ne hour and 34 minutes — that’s how long it took me to get from the St. George campus to Mississauga via public transit. Increasingly impatient due to traffic delays and construction, my frustration disappeared as soon as the bus pulled into UTM. As a big fan of architecture and landscapes, the first thing that struck me about UTM was the harmonious integration of modern structures and natural settings. Farah Qaiser, a third-year molecular biology specialist, and features editor of The Medium greeted me upon arrival. She took me on a brief walk from the bus loop into Kaneff Centre and then through to the Student Centre. At UTSG, it’s not uncommon to confidently jaywalk across Queen’s Park with thirty other individuals; however, at UTM, there is no need to jaywalk at all. The campus is secluded from urban areas and can be reached by way of a single road. As a pedestrian friendly campus, all of the buildings are a short walk away from one another across a series of pedestrian-only pathways. The Student Centre, functions as UTM's town hall, hosts the UTMSU offices, The Medium newspaper, the CFRE Radio station, and various other student organizations. The Student Centre, although small, is host to club booths, the Blind Duck Pub, and serves as a relaxing space to hangout with friends — similar to the ground floor of Sid Smith at UTSG. Qaiser was surprised when I informed her that UTSG is only in the process of developing our own Student Commons. After dropping off my things at The Medium’s office, I headed over to CFRE (Canada’s First Radio Erindale) where I had the chance to listen to a live taping of The Coastline, a student-run radio show hosted by DJs Jiten and Dylan. The show aims to share experiences and issues that students have faced, from high school personality phases to dealing with workloads. Apart from representing student life at UTM, the radio group’s aim is to showcase a variety of musical genres, and promote the student DJs on campus. When asking the hosts if there is ever a specific topic to their show, the DJs reply that “There are people that have a topic — not us.”
Across from the Student Center sits the Blackwood Gallery, an art gallery featuring the work of local, national, and international professional artists. The gallery’s current exhibit, The pen moves across the earth, is a look at humanity’s influence on nature. Walking back to the Student Centre, I noticed an open-storage room. The room is a space for BikeShare, which is UTM’s bike rental and repair facility. Noting the small size of their facility, the representative at BikeShare said that there is a high demand for their services, and as a space for students to rent and repair bikes, they hope to expand in the future. The UTM campus is also situated next to forestry and wildlife. A nature trail adorns back campus, and runs alongside the Credit River, where people are often found fishing. The nature trail was notably empty, unfrequented by UTM students, but nevertheless a recommendable place to de-stress and appreciate the quiet of nature. Accompanied by The Medium’s features editor, I took this as an opportunity to ask about some common myths regarding UTM. According to Qaiser, the notion that everyone at UTM knows each other is, in fact, true. Apparently the school is so small that you’ll recognize nearly everyone in your respective year of study. Unlike UTSG, it’s particularly difficult to avoid someone. Even if you try; you’re bound to run into them. I visited UTM’s four-floor library to compare it with our own library, Robarts. Much like Robarts, UTM's library holds a variety of study environments: desks with dividers, group study rooms, and tables with low dividers for when you want to pseudo-study with friends. There’s a 'Quiet’ Collaborative Study Zone' on the third floor — which is in reality a space for loud conversations, food, and maybe the occasional studying on the side. Coming in to UTM, all I really knew was that there would be many trees and glass buildings, but the campus prove to hold so much more. The campus design is successful in its balance between nature and modernity, because it finds positivity in its friendly environment and tight-knit community.
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MAHNOOR AYUB
MEDIUM ASSOCIATE FEATURES EDITOR
I can still hear the last few announcements echoing through my mind. With stark clarity, I recall the speaker aboard the Rocket bus: “This is an express route; the next stop is UTSC.” Looking over my transit instructions one more time, I reassured myself that I must be in the right place. There could be no other place where people would be sitting casually at the bus stop, sipping their beverages, and having animated conversations about the neuromuscular physiology and locomotor capabilities of hummingbirds. After asking for directions, and probably being mistaken for a first-year student, I made my way uphill along a concrete path towards the Student Centre. At the top, there were interconnected pathways leading to different buildings that all converged on a common walkway. On my right, I could see all the beauty that autumn had to offer, which satisfied the expectations I had built when observing UTSC’s famous campus plan. While the contrasting views seemed to form the perfect balance, I was more drawn towards the energy radiating from the Student Centre. I walked in and was instantly tempted by the vast variety of food options available. Resisting the urge to fast-forward my schedule to lunch time, I headed up the stairs located in the centre of the floor. This allowed me a panoramic view of not just the stalls set up for clubs' week, but also the buildings beyond. While I expected to be impressed by UTSC’s architecture, I was surprised by what I felt after
completing my exploration of the Student Centre. There is a strong sense of community present at UTSC — I was met with disagreement from UTSC students about this. This made me realize that what makes our campuses similar is essentially the self-discontent. I headed to the Bladen Wing, in search of the Doris McCarthy Gallery. Feeling like a professional for not getting lost, I was welcomed by Julia Abraham. She was preparing for the Complex Social Change exhibition, which was beginning the next day. The exhibition uses various art forms — ranging from videos and photography to text and installations — to encourage conversations about complex issues such as politics and feminism. Abraham enthusiastically informed me about how the exhibition is only a component of a much larger ambition for instigating social change, and that it can also start conversation about what people don’t want to talk about or what has to be said. She informed me about the upcoming displays for “the etiquette and anatomy of
social change,” which illustrated how UTSC’s awareness through the art scene is definitely something to keep up with. Heading out of the gallery, I walked past corridors filled with students studying on the sides — blissfully unaware of a lost UTM student in their midst. I realized that I was subconsciously searching for a particular place on the campus. I had reverted to the basic instincts of a U of T student, which gave me the direction that I needed — when in doubt, go to the library. I sat down on a colorful chair in the open, welcoming common reading room situated in the middle, open to balconies on the upper floors. Although I was drawn towards the new DVDs section on the main shelves, the U of T student in me was applauding the intermingled corridors upon corridors of silent study spaces and the self-serve course reserves section. Seeing all the numerous spaces filled could only mean one thing: midterms are coming. Feeling adventurous, I exited through a
deserted pathway and found myself facing a daunting concrete tower-like structure. I hurried around the building and looked for the entrance, eventually making my way through the flowery green pathway. Finally, I discovered that I was standing at the entrance of the humanities wing — an architectural masterpiece designed around massive diagonal staircases. I sat down peacefully with my lunch in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked what appeared to be meadows and preserved nature sites. As it turned out, these were in fact the athletic fields. The view was enough to motivate me to make the long walk to the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, so I headed outside and trekked down Military Trail. Swiping my T-Card, I was amazed at the beautiful pools used for competition and recreation. Not only does the centre boast an enormous climbing wall with large centres for indoor soccer, basketball, and leadership development, but it is also a model for providing accessibility. Feeling elated after sharing the space recently occupied by outstanding international athletes, I decided to make my way back to UTM. As I passed by a number of long line-ups at the Tim Hortons on the way back, I began to feel like I was at my home campus. Feeling at ease under the common U of T logo, amidst the anxious midterm and hummingbird physiology conversations, there’s only one thing I could think of as I boarded the rocket: when would I be coming back?
The Instructional Centre at UTSC. MICHAEL MURAZ/THE VARSITY
Victoria College at UTSU. MALLIKA MAKKAR/PHOTO EDITOR
SHARINE TAYLOR
UNDERGROUND CONTRIBUTOR
Having visited the UTSG campus prior to this trip, I had anticipated a heavy flow of students rushing to get to class. My visits downtown were always on the weekends, and were primarily for much needed quiet study time inside of Robarts. This being my first occasion venturing down on a weekday, I got off at Museum station to avoid the potential clash of bodies at St. George. As a child I was introduced to the classic axiom 'don't judge a book by its cover'; however, ‘don’t judge a campus by its architecture,’ would have probably been more fitting in this instance. I was surprised — to say the least — that upon exiting I wasn’t bombarded in the same manner one would be if they got out at Union station. My first conception of the campus being heavily saturated with students, proved wrong. This is most likely attributed to how much physical space the campus occupies, which ultimately accommodates the numerous students who attend. Walking around Queen’s Park, with Teefy Hall and the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies building to my left, and cars whizzing by to my right, really put into perspective how the UTSG campus straddles the line between antiquity and modernity. I walked further around the perimeter of the park and ended up in the heart of UTSG, the
front campus at King’s College Circle. From there, I decided to make my way towards a name I’ve seen listed quite often on my tuition incidental fee breakdown but I never had the opportunity to utilize: Hart House. Instantly feeling envious of every single St. George student for having immediate access to this space, I decided to head straight inside and see all the going-ons within it. Assuming that it would be overflowing with students, I was initially hesitant to go in, knowing full well that I was part walking-with-purpose and part aimlessly admiring. My second conception, of Hart House being overly busy, proved to be untrue as well. Although it wasn’t as packed as I thought,
it was still bustling with activity. What I really wanted to do was to see some art installations, and I knew the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery was located somewhere close by. Unfortunately, I had arrived just minutes after the doors closed, but I decided to remain on my search for artwork. Here is where my third conception was dispelled. I was totally convinced that this particular U of T campus would be so rooted in its tradition that it would be void of embracing any millennial interests. Lining one of the hallways were Instagraminspired portraits of students whom, I believe, were asked if social media can be a catalyst for social change. Their answers were placed
as the captions on their photos. I was delighted that students were allowed to express their social views in a manner that translated their URL activity into IRL activity. A walk farther down the stairs allowed me to see the diverse activities that takes place in Hart House; a darkroom for developing photos; study spaces; social spaces; and an intimately lit eatery called Sammy’s Student Exchange. I imagine this was probably a campus favourite, because it was crowded with students talking among one another and enjoying its cozy atmosphere. I was now on a mission to find something to eat. Standing on the steps of Hart House and looking out onto the front campus made for a picturesque view as students played sports and talked academics. With Convocation Hall and the changing reds, yellows, and oranges of autumn leaves as their backdrop, my thoughts were interrupted by a gust of wind. I walked through the neighborhoods surrounding the campus to see if I could find any interesting spots. Though the campus is decorated with its beautiful historic buildings, it has definitely kept up with the times, and it is far from being as traditional as I had initially speculated.
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To thine own self be true The Varsity sat down with Hamlet's leading man before he takes the stage this Wednesday TICIA BAUTELL
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
On November 4, Hart House will premiere tragedy: Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Dan Mousseau has landed the titular role. The actor is ready to showcase his interpretation of the famous character; in the midst of his busy schedule, Mousseau sat down with The Varsity to talk about his upcoming role. The Varsity (TV): Are you nervous about opening night? Dan Mousseau (DM): Yes. I’ve heard that if you’re nervous it means you care. It’s not bad to have some nerves, though. I try not to think about it so much; it’ll just come. TV: How does Hamlet differ from other characters that you’ve played? DM: [Hamlet] is a really interesting guy, because he thinks about absolutely everyone but he’s so focused on his own life at the same time. Usually there’s only a focus on a character that only wants one thing. He is just such a complex character and in a way you almost don’t have to act. With Hamlet its all there — you have to open yourself to interpretation and make it personal. TV: Would you say that you found your passion in theatre? DM: My passion started in Shakespeare. I did a few parody school shows when I was younger and it was one of the first musicals
I did. It was fun and I loved it, it swayed me away from sports and then I started acting in the Kitchener Youth Theatre that only did Shakespeare. Later on I went to some summer camps in Stratford and did Shakespeare more intensively.
freak, and Inertia was a dance piece I created with a fellow student at Ryerson. I was working with dancers, so I threw myself in a totally unknown zone. My biggest obstacle was figuring out how I could communicate what I wanted to the people that don’t speak the same language as me.
TV: How did your BFA at Ryerson prepare you for Hamlet? DM: I did a whole term working on Shakespeare. At Ryerson we learned everything from voice work to different techniques. It kind of gave me like a tool belt which I’ve used a lot of. TV: Have you found inspiration living in Toronto? DM: When I find myself in a massive group of people – which you often do in the city – I often stop and take a look at everyone. Everyone is always looking down or looking away. People really aren’t receptive in the city as much. With Hamlet, he seeks to bridge the gap between himself and the audience. It really emphasizes that we are all the same, and everyone is just as complex as I am. TV: What is your acting process like? DM: Lots of memorization. I’ve taken a lot from my own life. I think about my relationship with my family because that’s what the whole play is based around. I think about how I would feel if my dad died or if my mom did this – trying to find ways that I can fully make
TV: What has been your biggest obstacle? DM: Being too much of a control freak. In school we did something called “clown,” where you stand in front of the class and do nothing, and by doing nothing you have to trust that you will be funny, or that something funny will come. This idea of trying not to control everything and letting it happen is terrifying. TV: What roles do you prefer to play? DM: I really enjoy doing characters like Hamlet that are troubled. I gravitate towards a sense of loss. I think that’s the most interesting to watch. Dan Mousseau will play Hamlet. COURTESY OF ANDREA WASSERMAN
him and myself one. The more it affects me the more it affects Hamlet and the clearer it becomes to an audience. Making it real is the most important thing. TV: How was your experience behind the scenes in Inertia [the dance piece you created]? DM: Very different… I’m a huge control
TV: Who is your biggest role model? DM: I really look up to my parents, but in two different ways. My mom has a wonderful sense of compassion and my dad has this incredible drive and work ethic, and together they make the perfect human being. I strive to be more like them because they’re really incredible together.
A haircut from the Hart Hart House's hair salon has been around for nearly a century, and has changed dramatically over the years HANNAH LANK
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Jim Morrison of The Doors once said that, “some of the worst mistakes in my life were haircuts.” It’s a line that many can probably relate to the way that your hair is — arranged is something that is more important to people than they admit. This notion is embodied by Hart House’s esteemed Hair Place, a century-old establishment that has thrived on the timeless fact that people, in general, really care about their hair. The Hair Place has a storied history. Pina Galloro and her partner Patsy Lochan have owned the Hair Place for about a year now, after they took over from the previous owner of 34 years. “The Hair Place used to be run by U of T, back when [Hart House] was a men’s club. It’s always had a barbershop.” It was when Ben Cataudello, the previous owner, started working there that the barbershop became a salon and started catering to women as well. To this day, the historical roots continue to impact the clientele, which is mostly male. Despite the predominantly male-oriented clientele, the salon holds a variety of services that cater to every gender. Visit the Hair Place for a cut, wash, blow-dry, colour, perm, or beard trim. Relax in one of the old-fashioned barber chairs on the black-and-white tiled floor, and absorb the historic ambiance. While the shop maintains its ’70s integrity, the stylists at the
The Hair Place is a century-old establishment with a storied history. YASSINE ELBARADIE/THE VARSITY
Hair Place have not. Galloro and Lochan are prepared to give customers the latest in hair fashion. “Buzz cuts [for men] are very popular right now. They’re a lasting style,” notes Galloro, who was also a stylist at the salon before
taking over ownership. “We see styles come and go...perms were more popular in the ’80s, and not as much anymore.” While most clients are U of T students, the salon welcomes any customer. Clients
range from anywhere between two and 80 years old. One of the highlights of the job for Galloro is interacting with clientele and conversing with students. “You get a sense of what they’re going through, what’s going on on-campus… Some of them you get to know right from the beginning, some of them don’t find us until they’re closer to the end of their studies, but it’s nice going through that period with them while they’re here, and then all of a sudden they’re graduating and moving on.” One of the best parts of working on campus, she notes, is the “busyness going on… the excitement in September of the new students coming in.” The Hair Place is never empty either. At any time during the salon’s hours, a customer will always be getting a cut. “Some of them come in once a week, some clients once a month, and some even longer than that…but you really do get to know your clientele, when you’ve been [cutting their hair] for a long time… Out of all the places I’ve worked at, this is one of my favourites.” When a shop has been around for nearly a century, it often develops a lasting place in the memories of its visitors. It’s something that remains constant despite its ever-changing surroundings. In a building that holds everything — a restaurant, theatre, library, and radio — the “hair place” is simply another aspect of Hart House worth checking out.
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Reservoir dames Chandler Levack's Feminist Live Reads ventured into Tarantino territory last Monday INDIA MCALISTER VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
The fridge inside the Cinema Studies Student Union (CINSSU) office is plastered with the faces of actors from various movie posters that have recently been shown at Innis Town Hall. The collage of posters tellingly feature one particular type of face; white and male. Just a few feet away, Chandler Levack, an Innis College Alumni and film director, is furiously highlighting through a script less than an hour before her show. An excerpt in a series of shows that Levack curates, Feminist Live Reads, is about to begin. Feminist Live Reads’ mission is to highlight the disparity in roles for female actors of all backgrounds. Levack’s actors, who met thirty minutes before the show, are an all-female cast of Canadian talent. The women represent diversity both in their careers and in their cultural backgrounds. Sook-Yin Lee plays Mr. White, Nadia Litz is Mr. Pink, Mia Kirshner is Mr. Blonde, Deragh Campbell is Mr. Orange, Jennifer Podemski is Joe Cabot, Lorna Wright is Nice Guy Eddie, Mina James is Mr. Brown and Sabryn Rock is Mr. Blue. On Tuesday, October 27, the cast of eight staged a cold read of the iconic Tarantino flick, Reservoir Dogs, at the Innis Town Hall. Supported by Cleo Feminist Journal and CINSSU, the show not only sold out, but managed to oversell its tickets, raising $2000 for Elizabeth Fry Toronto. Erin Ray, President of CINSSU, spoke of the event, saying “everyone who was there to see an incredible performance, knowing that they
are supporting a good cause, allowed for an overwhelmingly positive outcome.” One of the audience members, Matt Antay, reflected on the concept before the show. “I was just really interested to see that script read through a female voice.” Claire Bartleman, another audience member, attended the show to see if readings of Tarantino’s films as being sexist or misogynistic would hold true in a female voice; “I am curious if in seeing it from a female perspective will either take that apart or confirm that.” Reservoir Dogs itself consists of an all-male ensemble. The film is full of action, violence, and swearing — the sort of roles that, as SookYin Lee, who is best known as the host of CBC’s Definitely Not The Opera (DNTO), points out are not typically for women. “It’s not that often that you get a call for a role where a woman is kicking ass, pointing guns, and fighting, and so I thought that was really interesting to get into that mindset.” With no direction and very little prep time, the cast launched into the performance. This performance allowed for a few hiccups, and on occasion the actors struggled with a word or a line, but the mishaps were anticipated. As the reading progressed, the actors grew increasingly comfortable with their roles, and with each other as well. By the final scenes, Lee’s Mr. White had developed a notable chemistry with Campbell’s Mr. Orange, and the show had grown from a stiff reading between strangers to a lively rendering of the script between peers. To say that the script for Reservoir Dogs uses “strong language” may be an understatement,
The Innis Town Hall hosted the Feminist Live reading of Reservoir Dogs. SNEHA DASGUPTA/THE VARSITY
and it was evident that Levack struggled with this beforehand. She posted on the Facebook event the day of the show to inform attendees that she and the cast had decided not to censor the language. As James elaborated, “If you were to somehow censor that, it would not be true to that person you are trying to do a character study on.” When Litz came across the first instance of saying the ‘n-word,’ as Tarantino films are prone to, she visibly stumbled. Litz elaborated after the performance, “I definitely noticed that [Mr. Pink] says the ‘n-word’ the most. They asked us beforehand if it was okay, and I said ‘yeah, it will be fine,’ but, as soon as I had
to say it out loud in front of people, I found it quite difficult.” After the performance, Levack reflected on her decision not to censor any of the language, noting that she still felt conflicted about it. In the future, Levack can see the organization and its events growing in size and popularity. “I think it will be interesting to do a romantic comedy next, or something with substantial female roles. I don't know how to tackle that yet, so it will be an interesting challenge. I'd also like to open up the casting possibilities to more non-actors and diverse casting, especially with members of the LGBTQ community.”
2015/2016
U OF T’S PERFORMING ARTS LEADER SINCE 1919
Hart House Theatre Season
HAMLET By William Shakespeare Directed by Paolo Santalucia
NOV. 4–21, 2015 BOX OFFICE:
www.uofttix.ca / 416.978.8849 Adults $28 / Seniors $17 / Students $15 $12 Student tickets every Wednesday evening!
www.harthousetheatre.ca
Season Sponsors:
2 November 2015
CIENC
E
ARO
ARTS VS. SCIENCE
science@thevarsity.ca
N OW S
var.st/science
SCIENCE
D UN T
FUTURA MISSION – 200 DAYS IN SPACE The Department of Italian studies is presenting a meet and greet with Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and Canadian astronaut Roberta Bondar. Tuesday, November 3 6:00 – 8:15 pm Walter Hall, U of T 80 Queens Park Admission: Free NEW DRUGS: REDUCING TIME, REDUCING RISK
VANESSA WANG/THE VARSITY
Professor Michael Reid discusses why humanities students are more capable of science than they think NARTHAANAN SRIMURUGATHASAN
T
he literacy rate in Canada, as well as in many other economically developed countries, is 99 per cent. In other words, 99 per cent of Canadians are able to read and write effectively in their daily lives. However, a striking 42 per cent of the Canadian population could be considered scientifically literate. What is even more astonishing is that Canada stands first out of 35 countries in this ranking. Fifty-eight per cent of Canadians find it difficult to grasp scientific concepts such as whether the earth revolves around the sun, whether electrons are smaller than atoms, and human evolution. University of Toronto professor Dr. Michael Reid addressed this issue, and particularly the fear humanities students have of science, in his TEDx talk this past September. Dr. Reid is a lecturer at the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Toronto. He teaches AST101 — The Sun and its Neighbours — an astronomy course intended for non-science students, and found that many of his students dread science. However, he feels that these students are just as capable in the sciences as science students.
fluenza in Canada increased from about 350 to 600 deaths. This is why Reid says that “scientific perspective is transformative.” In order for society to become more aware of scientific concepts, assimilate what the media bombards about science, and reduce the easily prevented 600 deaths due to influenza last season, the scientific literacy rate must rise. Perhaps the individual would not benefit much from becoming more knowledgeable in science, but it would be transformative for society as a whole. The resistance that humanities students have towards science cannot be fully attributed to themselves. It is in part due to the way science is taught in classrooms. Many students have a misconception of science. They believe it is merely memorizing “somebody else’s answers to somebody else’s questions.” What is more important, however, is to comprehend scientific concepts and apply them to situations. More practical work should be integrated into science classrooms from a young age. This would make it easier for all students to learn and develop interest
Wednesday, November 4 5:00 – 7:00 pm UK House College Park 420 Yonge St. Admission: Free CONNECTING AND ADVANCING WOMEN IN BIOTECHNOLOGY
VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Unlike other areas of knowledge, science is unique in that new discoveries and changes in thinking are constantly being made. In fact, it is this drive of new discoveries that appeals to many science students. Reid explained that while this drive also appeals to humanities students, “they feel like they just aren’t interested enough.” Unlike science students, humanities students don’t feel encouraged to do science. They feel as though it is only for those who are actually in science programs — people other than themselves. For these students, as well as the remaining 58 per cent of the public that find scientific concepts difficult, the media plays a huge role in how science is perceived. Often, even the media is not fully aware of scientific notions. Take the anti-vaccination movement as an example. “There is no scientific basis for this movement” explained Reid. Moreover, people are making decisions for themselves and their children on pseudo-sceince, sometimes with consequences. Last season, the number of reported adult deaths due to in-
Hosted by the Royal Canadian Institute, this event features discussions of drug development and drug discovery. The talk will feature four speakers including Dr. Stuart McElroy of the European Screening Center, Dr. Paul Andrews from the UK National Phenotypic Screening Center and Dr. Aled Edwards from the Structural Genomics Consortium.
in science for many students who otherwise wouldn’t have one. Looking at the other side of the coin, science students also face difficulties with humanities. In fact, a life-science student may find the physical sciences difficult. However, there isn’t that stigma associated with humanities as there is with the sciences. “You never hear ‘I just can’t do [humanities]’ but I must hear twenty times a day ‘I can’t do science’” Reid said. This is due in part to the way we portray science as being superior to humanities to humanities. Humanities can, however, be equally challenging. Whether you are taking science as a breadth requirement or a compulsory course, science should not be approached with fear or resentment. Canadians should not find pride in ranking first in scientific literacy rate. The fact that 58 per cent of our population cannot grasp simple scientific concepts is just appalling. Instead, Canadians must collectively work hard to balance the literacy rate with the scientific literacy rate.
Organized by BioTalent Canada, this event features keynote speaker Vanessa Grant, a business lawyer whose practice focuses on cor orate finance and e uity Thursday November 5 6:00 – 8:00 pm Metro Hall 200 Wellington St. West Rm. 308 & 309 Admission: Free BUILDING THE INTERNET OF THINGS ON THE CHEAP HackLab presents this workshop to demonstrate how easy it is to connect your plant water sensor, refrigerator, coffee machine, shoes, or cat to the internet. Plug-and-play USB-enabled ESP modules will be available at a cost of for the first attendees. Don’t forget to bring your laptop. Monday, November 9 7:00 - 9:00 pm HackLab Classroom 1266 Queen St. West, Suite 6
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Modern sientists spend more time applying for grants than they do in front of a microscope. NATIONAL EYE INSTITUTE/CC FLICKR
The science of funding If knowledge is power, then shouldn’t the powerful invest in knowledge? SAMANTHA YAMMINE VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
If you are ever in conversation with a scientist and find yourself having to break an awkward silence, there are two things you can ask them about that will always get the discussion going again: their research, and their thoughts on science funding. The extent to which scientists are funded bears great signif icance on graduate and undergraduate student opportunities to pursue research. Lately f ireworks have been f lying about funding across all levels of the University of Toronto’s research community. HOW MUCH DOES SCIENCE COST? Contrary to popular belief, scientists spend more time in front of a computer applying for grants than they do in lab coats looking through microscopes. Just because a scientist has achieved tenure, and with it, some job security, does not mean that their lab will always have the money it needs. In fact, grants need to be renewed every few years, and most labs require multiple grants at any given time. Brenda Coles, who has been the laboratory manager and technician at U of T for more than 19 years, explained, “We typically spend around $20-30k per month on consumables [and] $15,000 per month on [care and purchasing of] [laboratory] animals.” Those numbers only scratch the surface of a research lab’s expenses. “Our yearly budget is around $1 million,” Brenda explains. WHO PAYS? There are three main agencies that administer Canada’s federal funding for science research: the National Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and the
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). As their names suggest, each of these agencies fund a slightly different kind of research. Controversy arose when CIHR announced it would be cutting its funding to students in MD/PhD programs, which it had been supporting for 30 years. “My peers and I have reacted [to this] with worry and frustration,” said Patrick Steadman, an MD/PhD student at U of T. “What already is a long training process, with deferred earnings as well as high levels of stress will be further inhibited by lack of support from CIHR.” Receiving scholarships for graduate research is crucial to allowing students to focus on their research while still being financially independent. Cuts to MD/PhD funding aren’t the only ones being made; the CIHR Health Professional Student Research Award is another undergraduate award that will also cease to exist after next year. While it is natural to feel frustrated with the funding agencies themselves, it is worthwhile to consider what the federal government can do to change the situation. On this note, scientists across Canada are currently signing a petition organized by the Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences to ask the newly elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and several Members of Parliament, to increase annual federal funding to CIHR and NSERC. WHO GETS PAID? Dr. Vincent Tropepe, Principle Investigator for a regenerative biology lab and Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Cell and Systems Biology, comments that 10 years of a Conservative government has been “interesting and a bit frustrating” with regards to science funding. “The government came up with some really good support for different kinds of funding,”
he said, of the significant funds directed to Genome Canada, Brain Canada, and the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF). But he cautioned that before we accept this as evidence of large financial support of Canadian bioscience, we should consider that a lot of the funding is distributed to certain kinds of research projects: those with medical applications. Tropepe says that these types of funding strategies often exclude the “independent investigator who is doing fundamental research on a topic or a problem that is of broad significance that might have application in translational medicine in 10, 15 — even 20 years down the road.” Of course that seems a long time to wait for progress, but Tropepe argues that “you don’t have to go any further every fall except to read the newspaper or look up online who’s won the latest Nobel prize, and every time you do that every single year it will be for a basic fundamental discovery that then contributed to humanity in some way… and in many cases that would never have been predicted when those discoveries were made.” Dr. Freda Miller, U of T professor and Canada Research Chair in Developmental Neurobiology, shares Tropepe’s sentiment with regards to the importance of funding basic science research. “The pursuit of science has shown us time and again that the breakthroughs that lead to new treatments for devastating disorders frequently come from basic, curiosity-driven research asking how things work,” she said. Miller’s research is asking fundamental questions about how the brain is built from stem cells during development, which she describes yielded some findings that snowballed into “a pilot clinical trial using metformin to treat brain injury in children, something that we currently have no treatments for.”
NOT ENOUGH CHANGE Tropepe argues that the best solution to this issue is to redefine the way we define the importance of scientific research. He says some people will define importance based on the economic benefit of a product, or by an obvious benefit to society. However, knowledge in and of itself benefits society. We need to support career scientists and trainees currently doing basic research to gain this knowledge, and a large part of that needs to come from increased support from the government to NSERC, CIHR and SSHRC funding. Consider fundamental science as forming the base of all knowledge. From a strong foundation, life-changing advancements in medicine and technology, high-caliber international collaborations, and a community of innovative professionals and graduates can all be built sustainably. If our country does not invest in a strong base, however, our knowledge can only stack so high. Investing in knowledge, something that has a strong history of producing slow but long-term returns, is the only way to maintain Canada’s community of scientists. Sadly we have quite a way to go to gain that strong science foundation. NIH, the major funding body for health research in the US, receives approximately $124 of federal funding per US citizen annually, while CIHR only receives about $34 per Canadian. That means American scientists are being given almost four times as much as their Canadian counterparts. Reflecting on this, Patrick Steadman remarks, “ ...Canadian research is top notch. Imagine what we [scientists and students] could do if we were better funded.”
22 SCIENCE
T H E VA R S I T Y
M O N DAY 2 N O V E M B E R 2 015 science@thevarsity.ca
They spy, we tell
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Bill Marczak and Ronald Deibert from Citizen Lab discuss the Munk School’s new report on FinFisher
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The Citizen Lab, a group within U of T’s Munk School of Global Affairs, has released a new report that implicates 33 government agencies in 32 countries over their use of FinFisher, a notorious spyware service. Working across a multitude of disciplines that include political science, sociology, and computer science, researchers at the Citizen Lab scrutinize and investigate the influence of political power on the Internet. Gamma Group, the Munichbased developer of FinFisher, advertises on their website that their software offers solutions to “help government law enforcement and intelligence agencies identify, locate and convict serious criminals [by] clos[ing] the gap in traditional investigative methods.” Spyware is software that can monitor processes on a target’s computer without their knowledge and can send information to another party. Spyware can also be programmed to capture keystrokes, access connected microphones as well as cameras, making it a powerful spying tool. Previously thought to be accessible by only the world’s most advanced nations, FinFisher’s availability on the open market puts sophisticated spyware in the hands of any nation willing to pay. Bill Marczak, one of the authors of the Munk School’s report, expects that “governments will not want to be left behind as more and more of their peers get into the computer/phone intrusion game.” The Citizen Lab was able to gain a large trove of data from a recent data leak at a Milan-based firm called Hacking Team, who offer a FinFisher-like service to governments, law enforcement agencies, and corporations. The leak allowed researchers to identify FinFisher using agencies by their IP address. Marczak says that this was possible because “Hacking Team had provided demos or sold their product to a lot of the same customers FinFisher had.” Hacking Team’s employees, while on the premises of these customers, would often send emails back to their headquarters, inadvertently logging the cus-
tomers IP addresses on Hacking Team’s email servers. Hacking Team’s data leak represented a huge opening for cybersecurity researchers around the world. For the Citizen Lab, it came after several wide reaching scans for Finfisher servers, most recently in 2012 and 2013. These scans, while unsuccessful in identifying the location of the master FinFisher servers, did reveal FinFisher’s use of proxy servers. Proxy servers act as a mask for master servers, providing a different IP address for all the master server’s connections to the internet. In this way, FinFisher’s servers might have American IP addresses when, in reality, they are based in Saudi Arabia. Due to this masking of the original IP address, the master servers’ countries of origin remained a mystery, even after Gamma Group suffered a data leak in 2014. That changed in 2015, when the Citizen Lab found that FinFisher had been “updated so that the decoy pages returned by the [proxy server] were actually fetched by the master,” Marczak explained. This update allowed for location based queries, such as Googling ‘weather,’ to use the location of the master servers, revealing their country of origin to the Citizen Lab. In fact, the Citizen Lab was even able to simply Google “what is my IP address?” to reveal a master server’s exact IP address. While Marczak believes that FinFisher will only continue to enhance their decoy system, he is confident in the Citizen Lab’s scans, stating that, “the thinking goes, [that] if they change the behavior of their servers to something we have not seen before, we will not be able to recognize it as FinFisher in the future. However, these slight modifications don’t actually impact our ability to detect their servers, in practice.” Going forward, Marczak believes that FinFisher will eventually restructure their system so that these types of scan become fruitless, and government use of spyware will become ubiquitous. He warned that such action is dangerous because, “in the case of the surveillance busi-
ness, you have the private sector involved with very little government regulation. Since the private sector naturally tends towards profit maximization in the absence of government regulation, you get companies selling to very repressive places like Turkmenistan. That, in essence, is the problem — surveillance companies have little requirement or incentive to perform due diligence on their clients.” There have been attempts to regulate the use of government spyware, most notably when modifications were made to an export control agreement called the Wassenaar Arrangement. Originally targeted at regulating the exports of arms and technology, in 2013, 41 countries pledged to adopt controls for the cyber surveillance tools that firms like FinFisher and Hacking Team were selling. Despite these pledges, the world has yet to see any type of spyware regulation, leaving every internet user with a looming breach in their security. To many, including Ronald Deibert, the Citizen Lab’s director, it is imperative for universities to act as stewards of a free and open Internet. “I see what we are doing as a form of ‘digital arms control verification’ in this regard, shedding a light on abuses and violations of human rights around access to information, freedom of speech, and privacy,” Deibert said, when asked about the Citizen Lab’s purpose. In respect to the FinFisher report, Deibert finds it to be an excellent representation of the work that his lab aims to produce. “It is a good example of the mixed methods approach we take, combining different disciplines, especially in this case techniques from network measurement, and turning them to pressing frontline questions that are pertinent to the human rights domain.” The FinFisher report is the latest in a series of investigations concerning the global proliferation of spyware products and services conducted by the Citizen Lab.
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Racial Justice Matters Bringing racial health equity to the forefront of public health SIMRAN DHUNNA VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
The intersection of race and public health is one of the most pressing equity issues in our society today, according to students from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health (DLSPH), who recently held their annual public health student-led conference on the topic. The conference, titled ‘Racial Justice Matters: Advocating for Racial Health Equity,’ was held last weekend, and focused on race as a social determinant of health, and one whose penetrating reach into our social and public health spheres has resulted in stark racial inequities. Attracting around 200 delegates from a variety of institutions and disciplines, Racial Justice Matters discussed not only some of the root causes of racism, but also how they have systemically affected the health outcomes of racialized peoples. The scope of the conference content was broad, with topics ranging from the consequences of racism to potential evidence-based solutions. The conference included significant discussion on indigenous peoples, immigrant communities, and refugees. The inception of the Racial Justice Matters theme for this year’s DLSPH conference stems from the release of several reports such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls To Action Report, and the
The conference focussed on race as a social determinant of health. PHOTO COURTESY OF LUC RINALDI
“Racialization and the Health Inequities in Toronto” report by Toronto Public Health. The co-chairs, a team of four masters of public health students, believe that “racism and racial health inequities are a hidden and serious concern with detrimental consequences for all people in Canada.” The conference featured dialogue about some distinctively Canadian case studies and topics, such as food security for Aboriginal communities and refugee healthcare. I was lucky enough to attend some compelling breakout sessions. One comprehensive concurrent session was led by Dr. Meb Rashid, the co-founder of the Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care, who talked about the myriad
issues facing newcomers to Canada and the the affects of healthcare cuts for refugees. Another session shifted the discussion of racial justice to geography: Dr. David Roberts examined various case studies — colonial Bombay, Vancouver’s Chinatown, Hurricane Katrina, and Toronto’s “Priority Neighbourhoods” — to understand how “built form” creates vulnerable populations within a city, and the historical context that has led to such neglected spaces. Other breakout sessions brought together various community stakeholders, such as the Black Experience Project, No One is Illegal, and the Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention, to discuss issues
like racialized health in the digital age and institutional racism. Based on three pillars — critical research, internal reform, and public advocacy — the conference engaged public health researchers through a ‘Research and Practice Showcase.’ Some delegates also had the opportunity to participate in “action-oriented” workshops at the Toronto-based Wellesley Institute, focusing on research and policy-based solutions to population health issues as related to racial health inequities. The conference ended with a plenary session focused on “serving the diverse ethnocultural communities” of both Toronto and Canada. Speakers Baldev Mutta from the Punjabi Community Health Services in the Peel Region, and Marvelous Muchenje from Women’s Health in Women’s Hands, gave their perspectives on the importance of local community health services, addressing public health issues that intersect with race. The Racial Justice Matters conference engaged the broader Toronto community on just how important race is as a factor in shaping the health outcomes of certain communities. The unique multicultural fabric of Canadian society demands a very different and adaptive approach towards an equitable public health system, and it is one that necessitates in-depth research and effective policy action rooted in respect and understanding.
RESEARCH IN BRIEF RATS TRAINED TO DISCOVER LAND MINES
NEW KEY TO MS DETERMINED
INNOVATIONS TOWARDS A SMART TORONTO
FROM CIGARETTES TO NARCOTICS
Every day, over 70 people are killed by land mines worldwide. Finding and disarming them is a difficult and dangerous task for humans. Due to these concerns, a Belgian NGO called APOPO has trained rats to do the job instead. Currently they are being used in Mozambique. These special rats are referred to as Mine Detection Rats or MDRs. Rats have poor sight and, as such, they rely heavily on their sense of smell in order to detect the mines. In addition to their keen sense of smell, the rats are also light enough that they do not trigger the weapons if they do happen to walk over them. The rats are trained to walk around on a leash and rapidly dig a hole wherever they smell explosives. This signals the human team that there is a mine, which, then, allows them to disarm the device safely. It takes nine months to train the rats. They are first trained to associate a click sound with a food reward. When this is complete the scientists associate the smell of explosives with both the click sound and the food reward. In practice this means that when the rats smell explosive material they stop, both indicating the presence of explosives and to await their reward. Since 2006 MDRs have helped rid Mozambique’s landscape of over 13,274 land mines, 1,142 bombs, and have also found 28,792 small arms.
A joint study conducted by researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute and the University of Toronto has shed some light on the underlying mechanisms behind multiple sclerosis (MS). Roughly 100,000 Canadians live with MS, an alarming statistic that puts us squarely in first place in the world. Most diagnoses occur between the ages of 15 and 40. MS is known to occur when T-cells, which are a component of the immune system, attack the body’s own nervous system. It has previously been thought that a different type of cell in the immune system, known as Bcells, may also have a related inflammatory effect, however the underlying mechanism had yet to be elucidated. The new study, however, has implicated a specific subset of B-cells, called GM-CSF, as contributing to the inflammatory response. “The study looked at some of the attributes of B cells coming from relapsing MS patients and allowed us to identify some B-cell attributes that could be potential drivers of this disease,” said Dr. Jen Gommerman, an associate professor of immunology at U of T and contributor to the study. “What the study found could potentially explain why depleting B-cells, one of the current treatments for MS, could assist in MS recovery,” she concluded.
From the NSA’s mass surveillance programs, to social media platforms, and websites’ personalized ads, mass collection of data has been a controversial topic in recent times. Still, many in the tech industry are managing this massive, yet readily available, data in an attempt to better our lives. A new project, headed by a professor of electrical and computer engineering at U of T, Alberto LeonGarcia, will advise users to make better decisions when traveling by simply organizing and analyzing information. In Leon-Garcia’s own words, he simply “[acted] according to demand, [got] data streams, [added] intelligence, [and applied] analytics.” The end result is the Connected Vehicles and Smart Transportation (CVST) portal, an open media platform layered over Google maps that provides live information. It makes use of a wide range of public and private data resources, including live video feeds of traffic sensors and highway cameras operated by the City of Toronto; Twitter traffic reports; and the number of bikes docked at each Bike Share Toronto location. In this day and age, when media platforms are part of every aspect of our lives, professor Leon-Garcia wants to harness the information around us in an attempt to manipulate ‘big data.’
A recent study published by Dr. Rachel Tyndale of U of T’s pharmacology and toxicology department, suggests that nicotine — the active ingredient in tobacco — might indirectly speed up the process by which codeine is converted to morphine in the brain through an enzyme. Codeine is a common ‘analgesic,’ or painkiller, whose derivatives include morphine and heroin. The study, entitled “Nicotine Increases Codeine Analgesia Through the Induction of Brain CYP2D and Central Activation of Codeine to Morphine,” investigated whether nicotine affected the activity of an enzyme called ‘CYP2D,’ which is responsible for converting codeine to morphine in rats. While Tyndale and her team have only presented a preclinical model — meaning the model has not yet been tested on humans — the findings could prove to be of great significance, as this is the first study to demonstrate the direct effect of nicotine on drug metabolism in the central nervous system, in this case the brain. While metabolism in the brain is the general area of research, this study specifically implies that the presence of nicotine in the brain can induce the conversion of codeine to morphine, increasing likelihood of addiction.
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SPORTS
var.st/sports
2 November 2015
sports@thevarsity.ca
lues field oc ey in old at U s The defending champions win 4–3 win over Gryphons in championship game
arsity Blues women s field hoc ey cele rate their fourth U title in the ast five seasons. EMMA KIKULIS/SPORTS EDITOR
EMMA KIKULIS SPORTS EDITOR
The Varsity Blues field hockey team defended their OUA banner this past Saturday. The team came from behind to clinch a win over the Guelph Gryphons in a nailbiting 4-3 game on back campus. The win is the fourth OUA banner that the Blues have won in the past five seasons, and put the women’s team on the top of the CIS leader board. The game started off slow for the Blues who were overwhelmed by the Gryphons. The first goal of the game came early, when, in the sixth minute, Gryphons’ forward Allison Chute fired the ball past Blues’ goaltender Sara Fredo. The Gryphons didn’t let up, and taking advantage of the Blues’ poor defense, scored again a minute later on a goal from Gryphons powerhouse Olivia Lane. A penalty card 14 minutes into the game sidelined Blues’ defensive player Taylor Fleck — allowing another successful attack by Chute who scored her second goal of the game.
With less than eighteen minutes left in the half, the Gryphons were up 3–0 and showed no signs of relenting. The Blues, however, found their stride in the seventeenth minute when a goal by third-year Lauren Sudac put the team on the board — giving the Blues, a much needed confidence boost, and enabling them to keep the pressure on the Gryphons’ defense. Another goal by the Blues, this time by rookie Sarah Pendreigh, brought the score to 2–3 just before the end of the first half. The one goal difference seemed to reinvigorate the Blues who came back onto the field with an energy and ferocity not seen in the first half. Fifth-year OUA all-star and member of Canada’s bronze medal winning Pan Am team, Amanda Woodcroft brought the score to 3–3 — tying up the game with under 20 minutes remaining. After a few penalty corners for both teams, and only five minutes remaining, it looked as if the game would be forced into overtime. However, during the last
five minutes of the game, Woodcroft fired the ball into the top right hand corner of the net, way above the Gryphons goaltender. A goal which seemed impossible for Woodcraft to make from so far, edged the Blues past the Gryphons to win the OUA championship 4–3. “I think I had to close my eyes,” said Woodcroft about the goal post-game, “I’m going to look back on it I’m sure, and it’s going to be one to remember.” Head coach John DeSouza was equally as impressed, “You [couldn’t] write that in a book... it was awesome,” he said. Both the Blues and the Gryphons will advance to the CIS championship that start on November fifth at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. The Blues, coming off a silver medal at last seasons CIS championship, will face their greatest rival, the UBC Thunderbirds, who are the four-time defending CIS field hockey champions. idfielder icole odman attles for ossession of the all. EMMA KIKULIS/SPORTS EDITOR
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Torontula women’s team bring home gold U of T’s women’s ultimate frisbee team wins national championship
Torontula women s team with their CUUC old medals. COURTESY OF TORONTULA
ANTHONY PIRUZZA VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
Competing against Canada’s top universitylevel ultimate teams, the Torontula women’s team earned the title of national champions after winning their second gold medal in three years. Torontula was victorious at the Canadian University Ultimate Championship (CUUC), that took place from October 16–18. Torontula entered this year’s CUUC with a tradition of success in both the open and women’s division. Between 2006 and 2008, the Torontula open team won three consecutive CUUC gold medals, followed by a gold medal finish by the women’s team in 2013. Torontula’s gold medal in 2013 gave veteran players on this year’s women’s team high expectations for the season.
Women’s team co-captain and chemical engineering master’s student Samantha ‘Cheto’ Cheung said, “Our main goal was to 100 per cent win gold at Nationals, as is our goal most years. We definitely thought we had a good chance at winning this year just by looking at who was on the team, who we knew were playing for the other teams, and the fact that we also won two years ago.” Following a dominant 3–0 performance in pool play, Torontula defeated Dalhousie by a score of 15–2 as well as beating Queen’s in a 12–5 victory to reach the CUUC final. In the final, Torontula defeated McGill by a margin of 11–5, but according to Cheto, the game felt much closer than the score implies. “We started the final with a small lead,” said Cheto, adding, “but while playing the game, I had no idea
what the score was. We fought hard for every single point, it felt like the game was very close the entire time.” The team’s depth, explained Cheto, was also instrumental in Torontula overwhelming McGill in the final. “I think the main advantage that our team had this year was how deep our roster was,” she said, adding that the number of veteran players on the team was a definite bonus. In the open division, Torontula completed pool play with a 2–1 record, losing only to the eventual champions Queen’s University. In a rematch, Torontula faced Queen’s in the semifinal, where they lost in a tight 14–12 game. Following this, the Torontula open team fell to Western during the third place match, with a score of 15–11 to take fourth place overall.
Although the University of Toronto does not have a varsity ultimate frisbee team, many universities across Ontario have added ultimate frisbee to their varsity rosters. Torontula hopes to join the Western and Queen’s utimate teams as an official designated varsity team, but according to Cheto, the prospect of this happening is still many years off. “Our team discusses being Varsity every year,” said Cheto, adding that the next time the team will be eligible to contend for varsity status is in another four to five years. Her spirits remain high, however, “we hope in the near future we can establish our team as a varsity sport in order to be more recognized for the hard work and representation that we give to the university as well as to better establish ultimate frisbee as a real sport.”
Torontula attles for the fris ee on the field. COURTESY OF TORONTULA
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Captain interviews: women’s cross-country Captains Honor Walmsley and Maddy Kelly discuss upcoming CIS championship onor Walmsley and addy Kelly ho e to finish stron at C S this year . COURTESY OF VARSITY BLUES
SAMUEL CALDARONE VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR
The University of Toronto’s women’s crosscountry team placed fourth in the OUA championship held on October 31 at the University of Waterloo. Prior to the competition, fourth-year kinesiology student Honor Walmsley and third year English and anthropology student Maddy Kelly, the co-captains of the women’s team, discussed their plans and goals for the season, as well as the versatility of cross-country as a sport. Earlier this season at the Vic Matthews open in Guelph, and the Western International Invitational in London the women placed fourth and fifth respectively. The team then traveled south to compete against some of the top schools in the
United States at the Greater Louisville Classic in Kentucky where they finished third, before competing two weeks later at the Queen’s Open — again finishing third. The Louisville competition was truly remarkable considering the higher degree of difficulty of competing in the United States. The main difference however, was not due to the superiority of American runners, but rather due to the mental challenges runners face in the field. “In Louisville there’s like 500 runners and in the entire race you’re just swarmed. I find it hard to focus. But at Queen’s by the last two kilometers there was nobody 10 seconds in front of me or 20 seconds behind me; I was basically alone,” said Walmsley. The women’s team is composed of many of the same athletes who will be on the track and field team in the spring
semester. In fact, the majority of the crosscountry team is built for the shorter distances of track and field: “we’re basically a cross-country team of 800m runners, so everyone really wants to do track,” said Kelly. While the captains have stated that their personal goals are placing in the top 25, or top 20 on a good day, at the CIS championship, they realize that a similar team result will be challenging this season. “We lost Colleen [Hennessy] which was huge... Colleen’s like a world class crosscountry runner, so we lost her, and Kelly [Hennessy] was a big scorer for us that we lost as well, just due to injury, and we have a young team,” explained Kelly. Seven of the 14 members of the team are first-years this season, and because adjusting to university life can be difficult, Walmsley and Kelly are empathetic to the
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student-athlete struggle — but don’t want any of the rookies to count themselves out. “We’re trying to [instill in them that] we need you for this team because two of our scores are going to be first years’, [and to] just believe in yourself and enjoy the experience at the same time,” said Walmsley. Bolstered by a triumphant individual OUA performance by third-year runner Gabriela Stafford who won the competition, Walmsley and Kelly believe that in spite of the team’s youth, they will be a force to be reckoned with during the season-ending competitions. Of course, if that is not the case, there’s always the track season to look forward to. The men’s and women’s cross-country teams will compete in the CIS championships on November 14 in Guelph.
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Explaining injuries: meniscal tears Rehabbing knee injuries is no simple task
DORA AKCAY VARSITY STAFF
Meniscal tears are one of the most common knee-related injuries that athletes can suffer from throughout their career. We have a lateral and a medial meniscus in each of our knee joints. Coming from the Greek, “meniskos” — meaning crescent — the menisci are the crescent-shaped cartilage tissues that exist between the femur and the tibia bones. The lateral meniscus is found in the outer side of the knee, while the medial meniscus is located closer to the internal side. Both menisci are important for athletes in particular because they act as shock absorbers for their knees. Anytime an athlete jumps, runs, or puts any significant pressure on the joint, the meniscus absorbs as much of the shock as possible.
TEARS AND METHODS OF TREATMENT Pain, swelling, locking, and loss in range of motion are the primary symptoms of a torn meniscus. Detectable by an MRI, if the tear is located in the right spot, sometimes the only viable solution is reparative surgery. However, if the tear is located somewhere with plenty of blood supply, the body is often able to heal the injury with the help of physical therapy. There are several types of meniscal tears — the kind of treatment an athlete receives is dependent on the size, severity, and location of the tear, as well as the age, health, and activity level of the patient. For the more serious case, arthroscopic surgery — a meniscectomy — is the common way of treating a the tear, involving removing any meniscus fragments and smoothing the edges of the tear. The tears can also be repaired by stitches — however, both methods have their downsides and may not lead to a full recovery.
DIANE PHAM/ASSOCIATE ILLUSTRATION EDITOR
PHYSICAL THERAPY Proper and regular physiotherapy is critical after meniscal tear surgery. Strengthening the quads, hamstring, and the glutes on the injured leg is the go-to way of getting back into the game. For patients who have undergone a meniscectomy, the usual recovery time can vary depending on the athlete, but is usually anywhere between six to eight weeks. However, the knee becomes more vulnerable to contact and shock after surgery, which has the potential to lead to knee arthritis in latter years. Athletes can have to wait up to six months to return to their regular sports-related activities; it takes quite a long time for the tear in meniscus to completely heal after surgery. With the right treatment, knowledge, and care, however, athletes can rehab a meniscus tear and get back into the game.
SPORTS IN BRIEF BARRY SANGHA AND EMMA KIKULIS VARSITY CONTRIBUTOR AND SPORTS EDITOR
TORONTO RAPTORS RECRUIT HOME-GROWN TALENT
TORONTO RAPTORS RECRUIT HOME-GROWN TALENT
(MLSE) GROUP WENT OUT OF THEIR WAY TO PLACE A NBA DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE TEAM IN MISSISSAUGA
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues’ football team came into the 2015 season poised to make some noise. Although as the season progressed, the team steadily lost more and more games, the Blues managed to up their win total to 3–5. The season began with a 36–3 shellacking from McGill University, and looked to carry on into the next week against McMaster. Despite Divante Smith’s 112 rushing yards and three touchdowns, the final result was 55–33 in favour of the Marauders. Going up against Windsor the next week, quarterback Simon Nassar put on a show with 232 passing yards en-route to a lowly 8–7 victory. The next two weeks resulted in losses against Carleton and Queen’s respectively. The losing streak ended when the Blues defeated rivals York university 40-3, but was short-lived after facing off with Western in the next game. The Blues have not fared well with the Mustangs so far, and this season was no different with a final score of as 58–2. A shutout against Waterloo came next, and a loss to Ottawa signalled the end to yet another season. The Blues ended the season in eighth place, up one spot from last season.
The Toronto Raptors kicked off their twenty-first season with a 106–99 win over the Indiana Pacers. In their third consecutive season with the “We the North” campaign, the Raptors aren’t a team to sleep on this season. Stacked with the star-studded backcourt of all-stars DeMar DeRozan, new look Kyle Lowry, and a promising young centre in Jonas Valanciunas and new acquisition DeMarre Carroll, there is a storm brewing in Toronto. This season is special for the Raptors for several reasons. First, as Toronto has never had any hometown players before, this year’s roster features NBA Champion and Toronto-born guard Cory Joseph, as well as former number one NBA draft pick and Toronto native, Anthony Bennett. This season the NBA All-Star game will be played in Toronto having stepped outside the United States for the first time. Toronto, rightfully so, will claim the honour of the first ‘international’ all-star weekend.
The Varsity Blues women’s soccer team lost 1–0 to the visiting Queen’s Gaels last Wednesday in a match characterized by relentless heavy rain. The women started their season on a high, winning three of the first four games of the regular season; most notably defeating second seeded OUA East team, Laurentian University, 1–0. The winning streak, however, was soon replaced with a losing one after the women lost four games in a row, against the likes of powerhouse Ottawa Gee-Gees, who currently sit at the top of the OUA East division. Additionally, Laurentian came back with a vengeance — defeating the Blues 2–1 on home turf. The final game for the Blues was already set to be an uphill battle — their opponents, Queen’s University, had already beaten the Blues once in the regular season. This was made even harder due to the inclement weather conditions, which pelted players relentlessly throughout the scoreless game, that eventually ended in second overtime with a goal from Gaels forward Tara Bartram. The women ended their season losing fifth year goaltender Sara Petrucci, saving 94 goals this season.
M O N DAY 2 N O V E M B E R 2 015
T H E VA R S I T Y
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OBEY? REBEL?
We invite you to participate in a 10-minute survey on student life and student protest being conducted by Professors Robert Brym and Christian Caron from U of Tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Department of Sociology. The survey will result in the publication of papers that will help to improve the quality of student life by increasing our understanding of the conditions underlying student protest. The results of the survey will be made widely available to U of T students. Please do yourself and your fellow students a favour by taking a few minutes to complete the survey on the Web at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/StudentProtest Many thanks! Robert Brym and Christian Caron Department of Sociology