November 28, 2016

Vol. CXXXVII, No. 11 November 28, 2016 thevarsity.ca —— The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880

Fall reading week coming to A&S

Thosewho whocan, can, Those who can, Those TaeKwan KwanDo Do Tae Kwan Do Tae

Announcement comes one year after ASSU, UTSU referendum Katrina Wozniuk Varsity Contributor

For both the casual and competitive, U of T students who partake in the popular martial art experience mental and physical growth, and find a sense of community

A year after the fall reading week referendum, the Arts and Science Students’ Union (ASSU) and the Faculty of Arts & Science have confirmed that Arts & Science students will enjoy a fall reading week in 2017.

“Our Executive met with the Dean and other members of the Faculty and we are happy to confirm that next year, from November 6th to 10th, there will be a Fall reading week,” reads ASSU’s Facebook post from November 19.

No other faculty at UTSG has announced plans for a week-long fall break.

In order to demonstrate to the university that there was interest from the students, the University of Toronto Students’ Union and ASSU ran a referendum asking students if they think there should be a fall reading week. Over 90 per cent of students who participated in the referendum voted in favour of a fall reading week, with 6,112 votes for the ‘yes’ side and 491 votes against.

UTM launched its first fall reading week this October, while UTSC has held a week-long break in first semester since 2013. The Faculty of Arts & Science at UTSG previously had a reading week in the fall until 2009, when it was replaced by a two-day break.

Feature – page 10

Is free tuition feasible?

NEWS ANALYSIS – page 4

Fall reading week, page 3

Editorial

Breaking the news Why writing off the media is a big mistake Page 9

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news@thevarsity.ca

Photo of the week

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Thousands celebrated the fiftieth annual Cavalcade of Lights at Nathan Phillips Square.

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From the archives:

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Crime Reportings Novermber 10–22

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The Varsity’s coverage of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Volume 82, Issue 14, October 23, 1962.

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NOVEMBER 28, 2016 • 3

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Pedestrian-only zone on Willcocks Street to be revitalized U of T considering extension of zone Jack O. Denton Associate News Editor

The pedestrian-only zone on Willcocks Street between Huron Street and St. George Street is set to be revitalized and potentially extended.

Known as the Willcocks Common, the car-free area that is demarcated by Sidney Smith Hall on one side and Lash Miller Chemical Laboratories on the other was first launched as a pilot project in 2009, when the city of Toronto’s Public Realm Section approached the university about making a section of the street a pedestrian zone as part of the city’s “walking strategy.” The change was made permanent in 2012.

Director of Campus & Facilities Planning Christine Burke told The Varsity, “It was a really successful pilot, and I think you can probably see everyone still loves the area, and it’s really become a more open space on campus. But it was temporary for so long, and so now it’s been so successful and well used by everyone.

I think we’ve been really encouraged that it’s actually now time we can actually approve and invest in it permanently.”

According to Burke, the project has just wrapped up its “design concepts” and “gathering feedback from the community” phase and is now moving into “detailed design development and construction” phase, which includes budgeting.

Concept drawings show a wider pedestrian area with lots of green space as well as seating and lounging areas. This is a change from Willcocks’ current state: scattered seating areas with basketball nets and large planters bookending the street at Huron. An article on U of T News frames the future idyllically: “Imagine shooting hoops on a court between classes, sitting under an endless tree canopy during lunch, or catching an impromptu musical performance in the heart of U of

T’s downtown Toronto campus.”

Student representatives from three groups — undergraduate, graduate, and student accessibility — were selected to form a working group to consult on the project. In addition, there were two open houses where the university reached out to the student community for feedback.

At first, over 100 respondents provided feedback on the concept design via a questionnaire. The second open house was held in October in Sidney Smith, where “there was a lot of interest, steady foot traffic, and students by far made up the majority of visitors,” Burke said.

The plan is not to have full closure all the way to Spadina Avenue, especially because Willcocks west of Huron is a public street. Burke said that it would likely be a mixture of one-way traffic and traffic cones and the project will likely be phased because funding will be easier to acquire for the already-existing pedestrian zone.

The budget is “something that if I could [reveal] I would, but these are just the discussions we’re starting to have right now,” Burke said.

DTAH, the firm who won the contract through a proposal and interview process, is a Toronto-based landscape consultancy.

Their other projects are well-recognized Toronto urban spaces and include the Artscape Wychwood Barns, Evergreen Brick Works, and the Distillery District.

A timeline for the project is not yet available. “It’s too early to tell, you know there’s so much excitement, we do really hope it’ll happen in the next couple of years,” Burke said. “But in terms of a timeline, I just can’t tell you… We should know in the next few months if there’s a fundraising period that’s required, and we’ll be able to tell.”

Willcocks Common seen today. STEVEN LEE/THE VARSITY Proposed revitalization of Willcocks Common.

Aerial view of the university’s proposal.

ARTISTIC RENDERINGS COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

Fall reading week, from cover

A&S students previously had a fall reading week before it was replaced with a two-day break in 2009. NATHAN CHAN/THE VARSITY

The Varsity spoke with Deborah Robinson, Faculty Registrar & Director of Undergraduate Academic Services in the Faculty of Arts & Science, to confirm the details of how the new reading week will be implemented.

“Starting with the 2017/18 academic year, Fall Reading week will take place the first full week in November—in Fall 2017 that will be November 6 through 10,” said Robinson.

The two-day break in the fall semester will be replaced by the fall reading week. Robinson explained that the faculty needed to “find three additional days in the academic term in order to maintain the appropriate number of instructional days.”

She continued, “Classes will start earlier for everyone—the Thursday following Labour Day, and colleges and student societies are adjusting

their orientation plans in order to accommodate the earlier start. We have also adjusted the break between end of classes and start of exams.”

When asked about the motivation for the faculty to include a fall reading week, Robinson explained that the reading week referendum was the “prime motivator.”

Robinson continued, “Over the years, many students have argued that, given the increase in the number of half courses, there ought to be a Fall Reading Week, for the same reasons that, for many years, there has been a Winter Reading Week. The Faculty also believed that offering students a Fall Reading Week responded to some of the recommendations in the Provostial Advisory Committee on Student Mental Health Report that came out several years ago.”

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Is free tuition feasible?

The signature ask of the CFS campaign has been considered and debated for years Jack O. Denton Associate News Editor

of tuition cap increases. Mathias Memmel, who is the union’s Vice-President Internal & Services, argues that free tuition is not necessarily a progressive policy.

“My concern with ‘free tuition’ is that it’s not as progressive as it sounds, and would primarily benefit students who are already better off,” Memmel tells The Varsity. “Any money that we spend on the tuition of high-income students is money that we don’t spend on the tuition lowincome students and that, frankly, is not right and is not progressive.”

Earlier this month, hundreds of students participated in the Canadian Federation of Students’ (CFS) Day of Action and its Fight the Fees! campaign, which called for free tuition.

Next year the new Ontario Student Grant (OSG) will be implemented; its announcement was criticized by some for the apparent incompleteness of its promise of free tuition for “thousands of low- and middle-income students.”

The conversation is not over, and in light of both the ongoing governmental reforms and continued activism for free post-secondary education, The Varsity asks: how feasible is free tuition?

How will OSAP change?

University student living in residence Parental income: $80,000 $20,000 $2,257 $15,000

$10,000

$3000

$3,000 $8,958 $7,400

Loans

$5,000

$0

$5,343

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With OSG

University student living at home Parental income: $45,000

Student contribution

$20,000

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Should tuition be free?

Jones doesn’t believe tuition should be free across the board: “I think that there is a question about what the magnitude should be. If I look at countries that have free tuition, they generally have lower participation rates than we do, or they have a different sense of social equity than our jurisdiction does.”

Jones continues, “I think that post-secondary education is extremely important.

Everyone should have that right to attend and… I think it’s about citizenship, it’s about essentially having an educated population, and there are so many good things attached to having post-secondary education.”

The UTSU had been critical of the CFS National Day of Action and the Fight the Fees! campaign for being too vague and not addressing the higher tuition that professional faculty student pay and the looming expiry

STEPHANIE XU/THE VARSITY

Student rallying for free tuition at the CFS National Day of Action.

Grants

A matter of national context Andre Fast is one of the founders of the Free Tuition Coalition at U of T, a group that advocates for more government funding to reduce and eliminate tuition fees. He is also the Co-Chair of the U of T New Democrats and a former University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) executive candidate, who ran on a platform that included advocating for free tuition.

Fast pointed out that tuition is free in many European countries and goes hand-in-hand with positive social outcomes: “Countries that make significant investments in education have less inequality and more upwards social mobility. Free tuition is feasible and has been implemented in many countries including France, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Finland. We can afford to have free tuition in Canada if we make it a priority.”

Dean of OISE Glen A. Jones, speaking to The Varsity in his capacity as Professor of Higher Education and the Ontario Research Chair in Postsecondary Education Policy and Measurement, stresses the importance of understanding when and where free tuition is possible in a comparative context.

According to Jones, free tuition alone cannot surmount inequality, which is a broad social phenomenon and only really tenably exists in countries with an already narrow income gap.

“If you’re in the Nordic region, for example, then tuition is generally free, but the notion is that salary structures are relatively flat. So being a carpenter or being a doctor or being a professor, the differences in salary structure are not great, and therefore the notion of providing free tuition to encourage folks to continue on is sort of built in to the social-democratic ethos of the environment.

That’s never been the case with us — we have a huge difference between the wealthy and the poor,” Jones says.

$6,860 $3,751 $0

Now

With OSG SOURCE: 2016 ONTARIO BUDGET

Ontario Student Grant The 2017–2018 school year will see the rollout of the OSG. The grant is an amalgamation of a number of distinct loans, grants, and tax credits that fall under the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP). It will cover the full cost of tuition — based on the average arts and science tuition — for students who come from households with an income of $50,000 or less, and over 50 per cent of families with household incomes of $83,000 or less will receive grants in excess of tuition.

Fast thinks the tuition grant is a step in the right direction, but that it doesn’t go far enough. “It re-allocates funds to better assist students from low income families. But the grant will not cover the full cost of education for many students, and it does not provide any new funding. The grant does not help students graduating this year who will have to pay back their debt plus the interest,” he said.

Jones says that the grants are good because they shift the conversation from purely one of free tuition to one of access to holistic financial aid: “Most of this conversation is about access, to arrange the system in such a way that individuals who need that financial support have access to it, and tuition is a small component of that, as you know.”

Jones thinks the grants are “going to be a huge improvement when they’re fully implemented.

It’s a good policy in terms of access, because it essentially means you will know what the real price is, not just the sticker price.”

There is a caveat, however, that Jones introduces when discussing the impact of the OSG — it does not necessarily mean improved access for those who might not usually expect to attend post-secondary institutions. “I think if you get preoccupied with tuition, you lose the broader situation.

And the broader situation is about the differences in family backgrounds, it’s about the reality of providing student financial assistance that helps those who need it,” he says.

Is tuition and money everything?

Fast and Jones agree that money and tuition should not be nebulous in discussions on accessibility of education.

“Tuition fees should be eliminated because they act as a significant barrier for students across Canada... A post-secondary degree is... equivalent to the value of a high school diploma a generation ago, but unaffordable tuition prevents many students from low income families from attending university,” says Fast.

“Enrolment records show that only 10% of university students are from the lowest income quartile, while 50% are from the wealthiest income quartile. Tuition fees reinforce existing social barriers and disproportionality [sic] impact Indigenous students, racialized students, students with disabilities and queer and trans students who are more likely to have lower incomes,” he continues.

Tuition, page 6

NOVEMBER 28, 2016 • 5

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U of T engineering student wins Rhodes Scholarship Stephanie Gaglione among 11 Canadians to study at Oxford next year Emaan Thaver Associate News Editor

From Toronto to Geneva to Massachusetts, Stephanie Gaglione’s academic journey has spanned across multiple cities as well as disciplines. The U of T chemical engineering student has interned for the World Health Organization’s immunization program, worked in customer development at Procter and Gamble’s Toronto location, and studied biomaterials and drug delivery at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The 22-year old’s latest endeavour is set to take her to the University of Oxford next year, where she will study as a Rhodes scholar. The Rhodes is widely considered to be the one of the world’s most prestigious scholarships.

Gaglione is one of 11 Canadians chosen to receive the scholarship this year, which pays for up to three years worth of postgraduate study at Oxford. Canadian finalists for the award were notified of the selection committee’s decision via phone call last weekend. She recalled spending

most of her Saturday evening in suspense: “After the interview during the day, they call all the finalists... so you wait idly by your phone from 6:00–8:00 pm for the phone call,” she laughed.

Rhodes scholars are chosen after a stringent selection process. The application requires, among other things, a personal statement, six reference letters, and an interview — which Gaglione says was one of the most difficult she’s ever been to — but the process allowed for a great deal of self-reflection.

“The Rhodes application really forces you to examine the entirety of your experience… and distill it down into one idea... and really get your motivation clear on paper and clear to yourself.”

The Rhodes award is not Gaglione’s first scholarship win; last year, she was awarded the Fulbright Canada Killam Fellowship and spent 10 months doing full-time research at a biotechnology lab at MIT. She is also a former Varsity Blues figure skater and a former research student at The Hospital for Sick Children, and she has served on the

Governing Council’s Academic Policy and Programs Committee and Academic Board as a student representative.

While Gaglione has always been interested in science, she treated the beginning of her university career as “a blank slate,” taking on a string of projects and commitments to figure out where her exact interests lay.

Working in business development at Procter and Gamble’s Toronto office, while “a phenomenal experience,” made Gaglione realize that a life in business wasn’t for her. Instead, it helped cement her resolve to be a technical engineer.

Gaglione credits her immersive work and industry experiences for giving her a clearer picture of the professional paths she wanted to pursue. She encourages new undergraduates to similarly explore different avenues during their time at university.

“Go to conferences or talks that are outside of the area that you’re familiar with,” she said.

“Do not be afraid to reach out to someone to ask an interesting question over a coffee chat or a LinkedIn message.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF STEPHANIE GAGLIONE

During her time at U of T, Gaglione skated for the Varsity Blues, worked at Sickkids, and sat on Governing Council boards.

Threshold for CFS defederation referendum petitions lowered to 15 per cent at National General Meeting UTSU criticizes National General Meeting practices Tom Yun News Editor

The Canadian Federation of Students’ (CFS) National General Meeting (NGM) approved a motion that makes it easier for member student associations to leave the organization.

The NGM, which took place in Gatineau, Québec from November 18–21, is the meeting where delegates from all member student associations come together to elect candidates for CFS leadership positions and vote on important matters relating to the federations.

The CFS is an organization made up of college and university student unions across Canada. The University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU), along with nine other CFS member associations, sent an open letter to the CFS in September calling the defederation process “overly burdensome.”

A motion to lower the signature threshold for petitions to trigger a defederation referendum to 15 per cent of members of a students’ union was moved by the UTSU, known as Local 98 within the CFS. Previously, a petition to trigger a referendum on defederation needed signatures from 20 per cent of members.

“This was one of 30 resolutions adopted by members following 75 hours of official meeting spaces for delegates to debate them,” CFS National Chairperson Bilan Arte told The Varsity of the change. “This change in petition threshold comes from years of discussion, and members still have a right to decide on their membership through a referendum vote.”

In October, the CFS National Executive — of which Arte is a member — also approved a motion to lower the threshold to 15 per cent.

At UTSG, a campaign called You Decide UofT is currently collecting signatures to trigger a referendum. You Decide organizer Daman Singh applauded the NGM decision.

“The YouDecide campaign is very happy to hear that the motion to lower the petition

Gatineau, Québec, which is where the NGM took place. ANDRIJKO Z/CC WIKIMEDIA threshold passed at the recent Canadian Federation of Students National General Meeting,” said Singh in an email statement to The Varsity. “We appreciate the good faith effort to reform the Federation and we are thankful that the Federation is willing to make these important structural changes.”

UTSU President Jasmine Wong Denike and Vice-President Internal and Services Mathias Memmel said in a joint statement that they were “pleased that the motion to lower the threshold passed” but expressed disappointment at the outcome of their other motions; one of the motions would prohibit student associations from sending delegates to the NGM who are not fee-paying students while another would have allowed for online voting for deferderation referendums. Denike also noted that the entire 11-member delegation from the UTSU were made up of either current students or elected officials of the student union.

“We’re pleased that the motion to lower the threshold passed, but they refused

to even debate most of our motions... We would’ve argued that non-students shouldn’t be speaking and voting on behalf of students, but the motion was never debated,” said Denike and Memmel. “Another motion that was incredibly important to our delegation was N13, which would have mandated the CFS implement online voting in conjunction with paper ballots.”

Memmel further criticized the structure of the NGM. “These meetings are controlled

by CFS staff and the staff at other students’ unions, and they’re designed to prevent serious discussion of how the CFS operates,” he said. “Anyone who’s familiar with the structure of general meetings knows this. If you want to talk about the structure of the organization, you’re accused of ‘being negative’ and ‘distracting from the real issues.’”

Memmel continued: “We were and are being placated. In theory, our motions will be debated next year, but that’s not good enough. We engaged in this process in good faith, and we weren’t even given an opportunity to make our case.”

Arte disputed Memmel’s assertion about the role of the CFS staff at the NGM. “Delegates are the ones around the table, making decisions, while staff of the Federation keep the lights on. The structure of the general meeting is designed to have members from different backgrounds and geographic areas debate decisions,” Arte said. “In more that 20 official meeting spaces, adding up to 75 cumulative hours, delegates debated motions and ended up adopting 30 resolutions.”

Arte also took issue to what she called “the ‘us and them’ rhetoric in statements by the UTSU executive after the meeting,” and said that she “appreciated the attendance and contributions of the UTSU delegation at committees and workshops at the national meeting and know that others feel the same.”

“I know that it can be frustrating to present a motion and not see the decision made that you want, but that is the nature of operating within a democratic structure,” Arte continued. “It is not true that motions were not debated. They were discussed by students in different meeting spaces over 12-hour days all weekend.”

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news@thevarsity.ca Tuition, from page 4

March against Dakota Access Pipeline held on campus ASSU, ISSU show support for Standing Rock Sioux

KAITLYN SIMPSON/THE VARSITY

Anti-pipeline activists have expressed concerns over the Dakota Access Pipeline’s proposed path under the Missouri River.

Kaitlyn Simpson Associate News Editor

The Indigenous Studies Students’ Union (ISSU) and the Arts and Science Students’ Union (ASSU) teamed up on November 22 to hold a U of T-wide march in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota and other Indigenous communities who have been protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline.

In addition to interested U of T students, representatives of the University of Toronto Students’ Union, the Environmental Justice Collective, the Women and Gender Studies Student Union, and other student groups were also present at the event.

The ISSU and ASSU event began with a poster-making session in the lobby of Sidney Smith. Small flyers with facts and information about the #NoDAPL movement, the situation in Standing Rock, and other Indigenous resistance campaigns were handed out to students.

Following this, multi-disciplinary artist Jenny Blackbird sang a Water Honour Song outside of Sidney Smith Hall. Individuals that

spoke at the event were author Lee Maracle, who is the Traditional Teacher at U of T’s Aboriginal Student Services, and Indigenous Studies instructor Amos Key Jr., who is the Director of First Nations Languages Program at Brantford’s Woodland Cultural Centre.

“I’m here because the water affects us all, it doesn’t just affect Indigenous people — it’s not just about our land, and our trees, and our ways: it’s about the whole of us. It’s about whether the future is going to be bright for your grandchildren,” said Maracle. “It’s about you, and it’s about your responsibility here.”

The march began after the speeches, starting outside of Sidney Smith and ending at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) building. At 6:00 pm there was a Standing Rock Syllabus Group Reading in the OISE library.

In an email to The Varsity, ISSU President and organizer of the march Jennifer Sylvester said that she was “very pleased with the outcome of the event. We had a very enthusiastic crowd and all were proud to march together to bring a voice to happenings at Standing Rock and other Indigenous issues.”

Mayor John Tory recommends $2.00 toll on Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway Proposed toll estimated to generate $250–200 million in revenue Kaitlyn Simpson Associate News Editor

In a lunchtime speech for the Toronto Region Board of Trade on November 24, Toronto Mayor John Tory announced the addition of highway tolls to the Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway following city staff reports recommending the switch.

In the same announcement, the mayor also discussed other tools to generate revenue, including supporting a hotel tax. Additionally, Tory confirmed that Toronto Hydro would not be sold off.

Supporting highway tolls comes as a policy shift for the mayor who, while campaigning in 2003, said tolls were “highway robbery” when his opponent David Miller suggested implementing them.

The proposed $2.00 toll is estimated to generate $150 million to $200 million in funds for infrastructure and transportation spending across the city.

Recent polling by The Forum Research survey showed Toronto residents divided on the issue with 46 per cent in favour, 45 per cent opposed, and 9 per cent without an opinion.

Approximately 40 per cent of Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway drivers come from outside the city and don’t pay Toronto property taxes.

The proposal must be approved by City Council and the city would have to ask the provincial government for permission.

The specifics of implementing the toll, including if it would apply to commercial vehicles, are still unclear.

— With files from the Toronto Star.

Sylvester also stressed the importance of fighting for water rights: “Everyone, including students at University of Toronto need to fight for the protection of water. Because Water is Life, and nothing can survive without it.

It is our duty to protect this land so we can confidently pass it on to future generations.”

“When a student learns about the sacred nature of Indigenous knowledge, empathy will certainly follow,” she continued.

ASSU also participated in a larger Toronto-wide protest against the pipeline on November 5.

The Dakota Access Pipeline is a $3.8 billion proposed pipeline that would cross Lakota Treaty Territory. The pipeline’s detractors have expressed concerns over its proposed path under the Missouri River, which is a source of water for the Standing Rock Sioux.

The Standing Rock protests have garnered international media attention and instigated a social media campaign designed to confuse police officers looking for protesting members of Standing Rock, using the hashtag #NoDAPL.

Fast sees education as one of a number of critical barriers to social mobility, while Jones argues that issues of inequality and social mobility themselves are partly barriers to education reform in Canada.

“A very high percentage of individuals from strong, high-quartile family backgrounds are... attending university. Even with all these subsidies, all these arrangements, the population who attends is not representative of the population as a whole.

And you’d find almost the exact same situation in countries where they do have free tuition. So free tuition does not somehow level the playing field and change the situation so everybody who is poor goes. In reality, there are other things going on,” Jones says. “To assume that money makes the playing field completely even becomes a little naïve.”

Feasibility of free tuition The CFS’ three demands in their fight for free tuition calls for: a gradual but total elimination of tuition fees to make postsecondary education universal, student loans to be entirely replaced with student grants, and all existing student loans to be made interest-free.

Jones does not see these demands as feasible: “It is important to realize that there are great variations in these answers that vary by province… I don’t see a situation right now where the various provincial governments will come up with the billions and billions and billions of dollars necessary to move towards free tuition. And some of that is just a political reality.”

Fast remains optimistic that collective action may have an impact: “In most countries where free tuition has been achieved, students organized and advocated collectively … now is the time to reaffirm our belief that education is a public good and continue to fight for free accessible education.”

Jones admits that free tuition does remain a minute possibility. Chuckling about the failure of many to predict the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election, he insists that he “will never say never.”

TTC fare to rise by 10 cents Increase to take effect January 2017, pending city council approval Emaan Thaver Associate News Editor

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) board voted in favor of a fare increase at a board meeting on November 21, which would see the prices of tokens and adult PRESTO fares rise to $3.00 from the current $2.90; adult cash fares will remain the same at $3.25.

The proposed changes, once approved by city council, will also increase the price of passes. Adult Metropasses will sell for $146.25 from the previous $141.50 and weekly passes will stand at $43.75 from $42.25.

Rides for students and seniors are also set to increase, with fares rising to $2.10 from $2.00. In addition, the TTC will sell postsecondary Metropasses for $116.75, up from the current price of $112.00.

Next year will be the sixth in a row that transit fares have risen. The most recent increase in January 2016 saw adult fares rise by 25 cents to

$3.25. TTC CEO Andy Byford wrote in a blog post that the TTC board decided there would be no fare increases in 2018.

The changes are projected to bring in an additional $27 million for the transit agency, which has an overall budget shortfall of $231 million.

Its estimated budget gap comes after the mayor’s request for all city departments to slash their budgets by 2.6 per cent, including the subsidy that partly funds the TTC. The 10 cent fare hike is part of the transit agency’s plan to ease its financial burden, which, as the Toronto Star reports, also includes “savings from reducing projections for fuel, overtime, and employee benefit costs,” and delaying the switchover to the Presto card system.

With the additional measures, the TTC will expect a deficit of $61 million in its budget for 2017.

The proposed fare increases are pending approval from Toronto City Council.

Comment

November 28, 2016 var.st/comment comment@thevarsity.ca

Liar, liar Both Internet giants and the public must be involved in fighting fake news

Ian T. D. Thomson Varsity Contributor

ELHAM NUMAN/THE VARSITY

T

his past November, the Oxford Dictionary announced the word of 2016: ‘post-truth.’ It is defined as “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.”

This announcement couldn’t come at a more apt time, with fake news stories gaining traction across the World Wide Web. No, Denzel Washington did not endorse President-elect Donald Trump — least not ‘in the most epic way’ possible — and no, Trump was not born in Pakistan.

Profiteers of these stories are people like Paris Wade and Ben Goldman, who, on a daily basis, churn out headlines like “OBAMA BIRTH SECRETS REVEALED! The Letters From His Dad Reveal Something SINISTER...” on their Liberty Writers News website. Other beneficiaries include a group of teenagers in the town of Veles, Macedonia, spreading similar falsehoods, like the story alleging that Pope Francis forbade Catholics from voting for Hillary Clinton in the recent US election.

Not only is the dissemination of blatant lies troubling, but these individuals accumulate thousands of dollars off of ad revenue when people view and share the fabricated stories.

Made-up stories are not new phenomena. When The War of the Worlds radio program was aired by the Columbia Broadcasting System in 1938, it allegedly caused mass panic in the US. In Canada, CBC Radio’s satirical news program This is That has been receiving phone calls for years from listeners who take the content of the show seriously.

But the motivations behind more recent fabrications differ greatly from these examples, which are intentionally fictional and meant to entertain. The intent of some fake news sites isn’t to make you laugh or smile; instead, it is for you to share and proliferate false messages.

Fake news easily pervades sources deemed credible and competent. When individuals share fake news articles via Silicon Valley empires like Facebook and Google, these fabrications become legitimized by proxy.

For many people, Facebook and Google comprise their main interactions with the Internet: both websites are easily accessible for information about the world. A recent study shows that 62 per cent of Americans get news from social media networks, and 44 per cent of Americans derive their news from Facebook in particular. Social media provides lucrative audiences for fake news developers to try to reach.

It certainly doesn’t help that 2016 has been an emotionally-driven year. Prominent musicians such as Leonard Cohen and David Bowie passed away, Syria and Crimea continue to be plagued by conflict, and the US election was arguably the most divisive one in decades. All of this has accumulated to produce a rather stressful year.

According to a 2009 study, stories framed from a human-interest point of view elicit stronger emotional responses and are ranked higher in terms of how well they communicate their intended message. The study also shows that there were no perceived differences in the objectivity of the story or the credibility of the source across different types of frames used for the story.

Knowing how easy it is to pull at our heartstrings regardless of the validity of the evidence, fake stories and other sensationalist media outlets provide headlines and imagery to reel us in.

Facebook and Google are aware of this issue. While Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg incredulously downplayed the matter at one point — stating that “only a very small amount is fake news and hoaxes” — he and his company have since taken action on the issue, developing several strategies to uproot the issue and fix their news algorithms. Meanwhile, Google has blocked fake news sites from accessing their advertising networks.

However, this isn’t to say that these corporations should be the only ones held accountable. Just as they have the option of not appeasing only their shareholders for greater dividends, we too have the option of not using their services.

Within this context, we too must try to become more diligent, well-versed readers. This can be accomplished if we constantly challenge what we read and what we think we know. People will always be driven to find evidence that fits with their beliefs, to prove that they are in the right and their opponents are in the wrong. This basic drive is, in some ways, a defining characteristic of human beings: it is in our nature to defend our own perceptions of the world.

However, there is a difference between one’s perception of the world and a counterfeited ideal. Fake news capitalizes on shares and clicks; just ask the Macedonian site Meta, which has launched approximately 140 fake US political websites to profit from your views through their hybrid, fake, and plagiarized ‘articles.’

By specifically catering to one’s uncompromising views of the world, conflict becomes viciously easy; the effect of fake news sites is to reduce social media debates to nothing more than heated, fundamentally misinformed slap fights. And although sharing inaccurate tales may bolster one’s ego and provide a sense that you are winning the battle, only these news simulators come out the victors. It might take a piece of humility to restrain ourselves from those ‘I-told-youso’ moments and not share a fake news link.

Companies like Facebook and Google will need to continue to take the threat of fake news seriously, for shareholders and customers alike. However, fighting fake news is a team effort. In order to distance ourselves from the ‘post-truth’ paradigm, all of us must think before we click and share.

Ian T. D. Thomson is a Master of Public Policy candidate at the School of Public Policy and Governance.

He holds an Honours Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Manitoba.

8 • THE VARSITY • COMMENT

comment@thevarsity.ca

The ‘Norm Kelly myth’ Civic pride in Toronto has allowed politicians to advance a damaging neoliberal agenda James Chapman Varsity Contributor

Many would argue that Toronto is experiencing a boost in civic pride as of late. With the post-season achievements of the Blue Jays and the Raptors, combined with the international success of Drake, Torontonians appear to be increasingly proud to call their city home. In line with this trend, ‘neighbourhood pride’ toques and subway buttons are becoming increasingly popular — the UTSU even hopped on the bandwagon this year with their line of Uof6ix shirts and baseball caps.

Municipal politicians like Mayor John Tory and Councillor Norm Kelly are also capitalizing on these trends. These days, both politicians are often seen publicly touting Toronto’s recent cultural and sporting successes on the international stage, while insisting that life in Toronto is constantly improving.

When considering the city’s persistent social problems, however, Torontonians may have less to celebrate than they realize. Income inequality in Toronto is rising at twice the rate of the national average. The city’s Gini coefficient, an international measure of income inequality in which 1 represents complete inequality, is 0.4. This makes Toronto the third most inequitable city in Canada, behind Calgary and Halifax.

The region’s top one per cent of income earners now share 17.5 per cent of total income. More than half of Torontonians are employed in precarious work, and one in four children in the city live in poverty.

Despite these troubling indicators, Toronto has bought into one great civic myth

for the past two years: that neoliberalism is working and that the life of Torontonians is improving. While promoting ‘Toronto pride,’ both Kelly and Tory have slowly advanced a neoliberal agenda, which has only exacerbated socioeconomic issues in the city.

Kelly, who became a local pop culture icon when he defended Drake against Meek Mill on Twitter last year, is perhaps the greatest embodiment of this mythical civic pride. At the age of 75, Kelly — whose municipal ward has an unemployment rate higher than the city’s average and whose constituents’ annual income is $20,000 below that of the average Torontonian — has become popular with millennials. This is despite the fact that he often supports the most damaging policies on city council’s agenda.

During Mayor Rob Ford’s tenure, Kelly supported the sell-off of public housing units, the elimination of the Aboriginal Affairs Board, and the privatization of garbage collection and public parking. Kelly even voted to eliminate the Youth Cabinet in 2011, which may be surprising to the young people in the city who idolize him. While publicizing the good life in Toronto, Kelly continues to support municipal policies and initiatives that make life for Torontonians more difficult, a fact that is often eclipsed by his popularity on social media.

Similarly, Tory is increasingly becoming the mayor of professional millennials who live in Liberty Village, work in the Financial District, and go clubbing along King Street on the weekends. Those who support him do not seem to be the Torontonians who most urgently need improvements to the city’s infrastructure and transit.

Tory’s moderate plans to expand city growth, which stress fiscal responsibility and the maintenance of the status quo, do not provide significant aid to the city’s lowest-income residents.

Tory has refused to raise the city’s property taxes, a change that, considering the high cost of housing in the city, would likely impact mostly those wealthy enough to own a home. Meanwhile, user fees on the TTC have continually increased, which disproportionately harms low-income residents.

Nevertheless, Tory certainly talks a good talk. His ability to consistently evoke the impression that he considers all options on the table and then selects the most pragmatic solution for improving the city has led to record-high approval ratings for the mayor.

He presents himself as a man above partisan politics and the impassioned debates of City Hall; yet, his ‘supra-political’ decisions certainly should be questioned.

In July, Tory voted against agenda items meant to protect childcare spaces, social housing, and fee protection for low-income residents. His irrational support of the Scarborough subway line — which will cost more than the Light Rail Transit (LRT) line that would have opened development in the city’s east end and instantly connected 45,000 low-income residents to the downtown core — is clearly not an apolitical decision.

Furthermore, his SmartTrack plan, even when combined with the Scarborough subway extension, completely voids connecting Toronto’s most racialized communities to city hotspots. These communities would arguably have been better served by an LRT. Finally, Tory’s demand that all

city departments find 2.6 per cent worth of reductions in next year’s budget contradicts the impression that he prioritizes city-building.

Toronto has experienced trends in civic pride in the past. In the late 1980s, Toronto became a proud centre for LGBTQ+ rights and multiculturalism. In the mid-2000s, Toronto could tout its environmental actions to the world. Yet today’s trends in civic pride, based around pop stars and sports teams, have only allowed civic leaders like Kelly and Tory to advance a neoliberal agenda under the guise that, since the city’s sports teams are winning, the city is improving as well.

Instead, the roots of the city’s civic pride should lie in its achievements in social, political, and environmental policy. It would be exciting to see millennials rally around municipal politicians who are promoting real social change, not just politicians who tweet the right tweets. Examples include Shelley Carroll, who is experimenting with making government more accessible with participatory budgeting; Joe Mihevc, who is pressing for low-income transit passes; and Joe Cressy and Mike Layton, who are lobbying the Ontario government to release the city from the damaging Ontario Municipal Board.

We should acknowledge that the changes being pushed by the city’s more prominent politicians often miss the mark, and that there is much work to be done before we can be truly proud of what has been accomplished.

James Chapman is a second-year student at Innis College studying Political Science and Urban Studies.

Editorial

November 28, 2016 var.st/comment comment@thevarsity.ca

The media and the message To promote effective journalism, we must object the information — not the institution

NATHAN CHAN/THE VARSITY

Re: Debating dignity “Ibnul Chowdhury unjustly maligns Professor Jordan Peterson by implying that he wishes to debate the ‘human dignity, existence, and freedom from violence’ of transgender and non-binary students. There is nothing in his lectures that even tends in this direction, and to claim otherwise is pure sophistry.

This is part of a strategy to redefine opposition to a particular gender ideology as inherently violent, in order to justify real punitive action against innocent people like Professor Peterson, via government action.

People may, in good faith, disagree with new theories of gender. For example, they may believe that gender is inextricably linked to biological sex. They may believe that biological sex is immutable. Such views are not bigoted, let alone inherently violent or unjust. However, promoting government-imposed penalties against the expression of such views, held and argued in good faith, is unjust.

Chowdhury’s rhetoric bolsters those who wish to exercise power over others, and wish to do so with a good conscience.”

— Philippe Stephenson (from email)

Closer to home, Toronto journalist Kevin Donovan and his colleagues were responsible for covering both the Rob Ford crack cocaine scandal and the allegations of sexual assault and misconduct issued against Jian Ghomeshi. A quick Google search offers much of what we need to know about these controversies, and it is questionable whether such information would be so readily available had the media not taken action.

Admittedly, citizen leaks and so-called information vigilantes have achieved similar feats. Yet regular members of the public rarely have the Snowden-like expertise necessary to weasel into confidential information databases. Even if individuals are able to do their own fact-finding, trained industry professionals deserve more confidence, as the information they find is still more likely to be responsibly obtained and accurately presented.

It is therefore troubling that the validity of journalism continues to be called into question. While the days of the printing press are long-gone and the media jumps through hoops to remain relevant to younger consumers like students, it is the institution itself that ought never to fade out of favour.

The primary role of journalism should be to serve the public interest, whether that is through questioning authority or going where ordinary citizens cannot. In an age where governments and non-government groups can easily relay their unfiltered messages to waiting audiences, it is crucial that journalists remain on the forefront to challenge the messages being spread.

The media has a responsibility to provide the public with what they need to know to stay afloat. In turn, members of the public ought, with great rigour, to take advantage of the infinite network of information they have at their disposition. With that comes the right to question what you read and hear, a scrutiny from which even the most eminent news sources should never be exempt — keep those comments coming.

Hoping for a better future for everyone “Can there be hope for a better future when prejudice, bigotry and racist attitudes and beliefs stubbornly persist throughout our society?

Prejudice is when a person negatively prejudges another person or group without getting to know the beliefs, thoughts and feelings behind their words and actions. It is grounded in misconception, misunderstanding and inflexible generalizations.

Bigotry is stronger than prejudice and is a more severe mindset that is often accompanied by discriminatory behaviour. It is arrogant and mean spirited. Bigots are obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices.

Racist attitudes and beliefs are misconceptions about people based on perceived racial lines and are often founded on the fear of difference, including differences in customs, values, religion, physical appearance and ways of living and viewing the world. It destroys community cohesion and creates divisions in society.

Prejudice, bigotry and racism have a terrible impact on our society. Ignorance is no excuse, insecurity is not justification, and the majority of society likely agree [sic] that each in all their forms should be uncompromisingly condemned. So why have honest, well meaning and constant attempts to do so failed, and how can we hope to scrub clean this kind of unjust and wrongful thinking?

Laws are important but when they diverge from a social norm, the practice may continue but simply go underground. Social norms must always be appreciated and recognized as central to our communities sense of identity, but the tricky bit is to change the negative norms and replace them with new, positive ones. Clearly after many years of trying we have not done a good enough job at this but we must never, and will never, give up.

Fear seems to be at the heart of the problem and hopefully fear that social and cultural norms are unchangeable will never add to the problem. So who is trying to address and answer these questions for the future? I am, and I hope you are, plus the continued efforts of social, political and religious leaders as well as media will remain imperative along with framing corresponding laws and enforcement of the same. Civil society will never give up trying to teach people that prejudice, bigotry and racism are simply and clearly wrong. So you can believe that there is hope for a better and happier future, just maybe not for the bigots.”

— Robert Hicks (from email)

The institution of journalism keeps us informed, and it is in our best interest to protect it.

The Varsity Editorial Board The media is rarely a popular party guest, something that has become particularly evident over the past months. Presidentelect Donald Trump has ridiculed reporters on the campaign stage, claimed the media is misleading the public by writing about him in a “nasty” tone, and taken to Twitter to express his views about the “phony” and “dishonest” Washington Post or the “failing” New York Times. Canadian Conservative candidate Kellie Leitch has proposed abolishing the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, excepting the emergency services it provides to remote areas of Canada.

The Varsity is certainly no stranger to these sentiments. In the wake of recent campus happenings, we have been lambasted for being too left-wing, too right-wing, slanderous, or even “disgusting.” And while we encourage critical examination of our content, we urge readers to be vigilant of a more disturbing, wide-scale trend: not only is the media’s credibility being questioned, but its very validity as an institution is coming under fire.

Criticism is fair and important, and we should all constantly challenge the information the media presents to us. At the same time, we must protect the media from censure, for it is dangerous to assume that we could live in a world without it.

As Dave Yin at the Huffington Post puts it, “Journalism is suffering because it’s perceived as ‘free’ and therefore inherently undervalued.” With the rising wave of social media having yet to crash, many are taking to social networks to ‘report’ on world events, a practice referred to by those in the industry as ‘citizen journalism.’ When you can get your information from an aptlynamed Facebook ‘newsfeed,’ there appears to be little value in cracking open a copy of the Times. Simultaneously, reputable and educated journalists are perceived as a dying breed, with the vast majority of papers now allegedly populated by paparazzi or political pawns.

This perception is mistaken, for journalism informs and educates the public in ways

other forms of readily-accessible media cannot. Whether it be through presenting complex legal or statistical information in comprehensible terms or providing detailed 24-hour coverage of events across the globe, one cannot understate the amount of skill and expertise required to do a journalist’s job well. Considering the body of critical, ethical, and institutional knowledge that reputable outlets benefit from — combined with the resources necessary to cover stories in a detailed and thorough manner — a ‘tweet’ from a self-appointed mythbuster may pale in comparison to a well-researched story.

This is not to suggest that public input is unwelcome: on the contrary, most newspapers devote entire sections to ‘letters to the editor’ or opinion pieces from the general public. Yet there is a crucial difference between writing what you think you know and devoting yourself to disseminating that knowledge in an impartial and responsible way. This is why The Varsity draws an unwavering line between our news coverage and the opinions expressed in our comment section, though all are welcome to contribute after having received the appropriate training.

We also cannot overlook the democratic role that free media plays in society. Journalism is fundamentally an accountability mechanism, bringing to light what the public may not otherwise see. It is concerning, then, when politicians like Trump accuse media outlets of treachery — it is vital to have independent and informed parties closely monitoring the actions of individuals in power, as they may otherwise crawl away from the fray unscathed.

Indeed, journalism has always been at the forefront of airing the world’s darkest secrets. For the 1970s Watergate scandal, investigative coverage by the Washington Post and the New York Times played a key role in informing the public on the US government’s abuses of power. Moreover, such publicity significantly contributed to consequent repercussions for the parties involved.

Letters to the Editor

The Varsity's Editorial Board is elected by the masthead at the beginning of each semester. For more information about the editorial policy, email comment@thevarsity.ca.

Letters to the editor should be directed to comment@thevarsity.ca. Please keep submissions to 250 words; letters may be edited for length and clarity.

Training with black belt Jorge Armijos, Chris Wong prepares for his orange belt test.

Kicking back learning lif Tae Kwon Do oers competition, physical benefits, and social fulfillment Doyun Kim Varsity Contributor

PHOTOS BY NATHAN CHAN/THE VARSITY

fe

S

ome of my best memories from undergrad so far come from walking out of Tae Kwon Do practice after a stressful week.

In practice sessions, I get to scream, kick, and move around a lot, until I’m so tired I can barely walk. I get pushed to my limits, and it’s actually addicting.

Tae Kwon Do is a Korean martial art, and it’s one of the most popular martial arts in the world.

It has been an official Olympic sport since 2000, offering competitive opportunities and providing self-improvement for its practitioners all over the world.

Like most martial arts, Tae Kwon Do was developed for the sake of self-defence. It stands out from other martial arts, as the use of fast and intense kicking techniques makes up the majority of a practitioner’s skillset, rather than strikes from the hands or grappling.

Competitive experience Second-year Rotman Commerce students Andus Lau and William Rodgers are two high-level athletes in the sports aspect of Tae Kwon Do. They’ve both represented Team Canada at home and abroad, and teach with the University of Toronto Tae Kwon Do Organization (UTTO).

A few years ago, Lau was fighting in a tournament in Mexico and found himself facing off against Olympic medalist Terrence Jennings — he didn’t know that at the time though. After a tough match, the score was 13–11 in Jennings’ favour, but Lau had put up a strong fight against a worldclass athlete. From this experience, Lau learned the importance of a key trait — confidence.

“I’m a hundred per cent sure that if my coach had told me who Terrence was and what he had accomplished, my confidence would have been shot and I would have performed horribly compared to how I did,” Lau says. “I really believe confidence is a huge factor in anything you do.”

For high-level athletes such as Lau and Rodgers, building up this confidence for every tournament is part of their training. Rodgers says that the mental buildup for fights is crucial for any athlete: “If you can’t get your brain in gear for the day, it doesn’t matter if you’re the world champion, you won’t do well.”

As a current competitive team member and President of UTTO, Courtney Siu finds herself discovering, like Lau and Rodgers did, that tournaments take a significant amount of mental preparation. In such tense environments, she’s able to test out what she’s learned from her classes and enjoys doing so.

“I also like sparring, and I like getting to figure out other people — that aspect,” Siu says. “And to try to figure out how to beat them.”

Tournaments place more and more importance on the sport aspect of the martial art rather than the more traditional aspect of the patterns. The patterns, as opposed to sparring against individuals, consist of set motions that are meant to build up students’ skills and confidence in their techniques.

However, this also means that to some extent patterns have fallen to the wayside. Karen Yang, a third-year Pharmaceutical Chemistry student who also referees at tournaments, notes that fewer and fewer people seem to be actively competing in patterns.

For students who want a less physically engaged way to compete, patterns have traditionally been a good avenue to take. Yang notes, “Certain people aren’t that aggressive. They would probably prefer [patterns] over sparring, and they’re still interested in the sport overall, but they’re introduced to it in a different way.”

The declining popularity of competing in patterns could be due to the fact that they are harder to excel in at higher belt rankings, the criteria seem to be changing on an annual basis, or sparring matches simply draw larger crowds than patterns. After all, patterns are just set movements and are not subject to much change, while sparring matches tend to be more fluid and responsive to human interaction.

In competitions, electronic scoring gear is in popular use for higher-level fights. The goal seems to be to reduce human error and bias among judges and referees. According to Rodgers, given that sometimes referees work at least 12-hour shifts in high-stress environments, this

makes sense. As a result, the favoured tactics during the fights have moved away from the brutally hard kicks of old school Tae Kwon Do into faster, more technical bouts that dominate the ring.

Community building Lau and Rodgers train quite rigorously. They’ve been in Tae Kwon Do since they were children and continued without break. Lau has since retired from actively competing, choosing to focus on coaching the UTTO’s competitive sparring team. Meanwhile, Rodgers is currently with Team Canada, with lofty goals for the years ahead. Both of the martial artists stress the same important aspect — community.

“The thing is with our training regimen is that we’re not training as much as other people,” Lau says. “If there’s an open and direct communication line between the coach and students, I feel like we can grow faster. And everyone would enjoy it better, to be honest.”

As a higher-level athlete, Rodgers notes that his current teammates are the biggest factor keeping him in competitive Tae Kwon Do. He’s found a large amount of motivation to succeed by working with them and wants to keep achieving his goals alongside his friends.

“Having teammates to motivate you will help you succeed,” Rodgers says. “If you’re motivated, you’ll succeed. If you’re not, then you lose interest and you’re just setting yourself up for failure.

That’s how it is with life.”

Derek Chau, a third-year Computer Science specialist, remembers that he got into the sport to lose weight when he was much younger. He stuck with it, after finding good friends no matter where he went to train. Most recently, he practices with the intermediate class at UTTO, finding himself too busy to commit regularly to competitive training sessions.

Chau constantly sees how much effort his friends put into their training and how excited team members get at tournaments. As a result of being in this high-energy atmosphere, he’s inspired to continue on with his own training.

Most recently, Siu was one of the key figures in putting together a joint-training session between the Tae Kwon Do team and the University of Western Ontario. The U of T and Western teams trained together from November 5–6, building up skills while also fostering a sense of camaraderie between the university teams.

This sense of community is something that keeps people coming back to Tae Kwon Do, especially in the university setting. UTTO’s blossoming friendship with Western’s team is one manifestation of this. There are also tangible connections built up within U of T’s Tae Kwon Do community.

“I do feel closer connections with people from UTTO than anywhere else,” says Yang, who returned to Tae Kwon Do in her second year. “[Tae Kwon Do] is my main passion, and hanging out with people with the same passion helps connect everyone.”

While Yang wanted to get used to the pressures of university life, seeing the opportunity to train again was irresistible. As the club’s Webmaster, she has adjusted to a more socially active role this year, which gives her the opportunity to maintain strong relations with her friends.

Real life applications Since committing to the regular club practices in his first year at U of T, Chau found that his sense of time management and prioritization has greatly improved since high school.

“For studying, I tried to manage my time so that I can achieve things quicker… Like try to figure out which one is quicker to finish… like prioritizing the faster tasks, and the longer ones I tackle in chunks before finishing it,” Chau says. “It’s also a big idea in the world of programming, which I’m going to go into. There’s this idea of teamwork in programming as well — you don’t work just as one person, because it’s hard to get things done as a single person, you want to efficiently work as a unit.”

In the ring, Rodgers describes his attitude against his opponents. In 2014, one of his opponents was getting unruly and aggressive when he started losing, so William put his foot down — on his opponent’s head — scoring three points and a win by knock out in the process.

Having done Tae Kwon Do competitively since he was in high school, Rodgers feels that he has learned how to apply his ‘I can win’ attitude to exams, saying that while he may look cocky while walking into an exam, that’s just his mental state; it’s how he beats his nerves.

Tae Kwon Do also teaches leadership and instruction. While traditional schools have their higher ranking students teach lower ranking students — Rodgers started teaching in this way at previous schools he trained at — this is not always possible for university clubs. After all, they’re mainly student-run. Executive positions also offer leadership opportunities for a few students.

Coaching students While it is still early in the season, the UTTO instructors have already created a positive environment for their students to achieve their potential. New and experienced students are encouraged to work with and push each other throughout their training.

“I love teaching university students!” Rodgers says. “That’s because university students — you tell them to do it, and they’ll do it. I also enjoy working with the students because they learn very quickly. You tell them to turn the hip a little more for a specific kick, and every single time, you see them turning it a little more until they can do it every time. You tell them once or twice, things like ‘oh, a little more’ or ‘a little less’ and then they learn it. And that could take just one class, and they still have it the next class.”

He also points out, “It’s not an easy sport to pick up, especially at the competitive level. Learning it is one thing — but actually competing in it is different. And I commend them for being able to do that.”

As the current coach of the competitive team, Lau wants to create an open and friendly environment. From his experience, he feels that this will encourage them to achieve their potential — possibly going on to provincials or nationals in the near future.

“Coming to the setting where I’m teaching everyone who’s not as high-performance but they enjoy the sport, the environment is so happy, and nice, and friendly, and I’m learning as I’m teaching. I’m learning to communicate in different ways from how I was taught. And that’s helping me grow as a person and I really enjoy teaching,” Lau says.

Lau turns to his experiences as a high-level athlete to determine how to motivate his students. He wants to build a team that’s driven not by titles, but rather by their own passion for the sport. In his competitive career, he finds that athletes who think too much about gaining and maintaining rankings tend to plateau and stop improving, so he tries to guide his students away from such a mindset.

“As soon as I hit that peak, there came a time when I realized I didn’t care if I was fighting someone better,” Lau says. “That was when I stopped growing at TKD. I hit a plateau, and I realized I was being selfish and wasn’t actually loving the sport. I was loving the title. After taking a step back and taking a coaching role — a whole different aspect of it — I realized that was a huge setback for any athlete. If you’re trying to maintain your spot, it’s worse than if you’re trying to grow.

So, always be searching for a new way to improve yourself... If you’re trying to maintain a title and position, someone will always outgrow you. Don’t think about that. It should be about trying to improve yourself.”

Tae Kwon Do is a fun and engaging way to get or keep in shape, while learning selfdefense skills for the casual practitioner. For more competitive-minded students, it offers an outlet. Besides offering competitions, Tae Kwon Do also boasts leadership opportunities for participants to continue growing as people, not just as practitioners.

“Martial arts are a good idea because they’re different,” Rodgers says. “It’s something better to do than just going for a run. Everyone goes for a run — it’s boring and you get pains and get sick of it... U of T offers a lot of programs. There are many opportunities, and you guys should take advantage of that. If you want to be a little more athletic, or slim down or be more fit, or feel better about yourself, martial arts are really good.”

Arts&Culture

November 28, 2016 var.st/arts arts@thevarsity.ca

Cockadoodles: the adult-themed colouring book you didn’t know you needed Just in time for the holidays Lisa Power Arts & Culture Editor

Adult colouring books have become a huge phenomenon in recent years.

Nearly every book store sells them, with themes ranging from animal portraits to Game of Thrones. They are often intricate and offer hours of distraction; studies show that they can be helpful in relieving stress.

But the Niagara Falls duo Connor Thompson and Chris Elphick noticed something about them others had missed: there was nothing actually ‘adult’ in these colouring books.

Inspired by a “bad joke about how adult colouring books don’t actually have any adult content,” they created Cockadoodles, an adultthemed colouring book. They have been using Indiegogo to help fund the project.

“We’ve actually been thinking about something to do for years,” Elphick explained. They started a podcast called Stuck in the 90s earlier this year. After only a few

weeks, Thompson brought the idea for Cockadoodles to Elphick and they decided to make it work.

The pair have been working together on various projects for a few years. In order for them to make the colouring book a reality, Thompson notes that he had to learn how to draw, spending almost two months learning to illustrate digital images. “Once I was able to do it… It became, well, it’s not just an idea anymore. This is something we can actually make.”

The book is filled with cats, bananas, and other fun items. “We tried to put up some pages that are mostly friendly,” said Elphick, “but there are definitely some pages in there that are, for lack of a better term, what-the-fuck-worthy.”

Elphick explained the process of planning for the book: “Just [Thompson] coming to me and saying, ‘We need to cover different dicks. Different angles, different viewpoints, and we need to be as diverse as possible with just everything.”

After extensive research, the two storyboarded the project and mapped it out. They decided to style it like a ‘classic’ colouring book by including puzzles, word searches, crosswords, a maze, connect-thedots, and the ever popular spotthe-difference.

“The more we joked around about it, the more it evolved,” said Thompson.

The key, Elphick explained, was to keep it “super light-hearted,” but still allow their art to contain a message. “I think we touched on climate change and the importance of voting, rail safety,” he joked.

“But everything is really light-hearted and fun. We weren’t really trying to make anything aside from a 32-page dick joke,” said Thompson.

For young people looking to create projects or make their ideas a reality, Elphick says that the key is to “take everything one step at time... I don’t think... at any point in this process we were like, ‘This is all we need to do for a colouring

Proof that nothing is sacred. PHOTO COURTESY OF COCKADOODLES book.’ That would be daunting and probably overwhelming.” Instead, they committed themselves to the idea, began researching, and used tutorials to learn the skills necessary for the project.

“I think that the whole idea of entrepreneurship is changing,” explained Thompson. Before, the image of an entrepreneur was “someone who opens a bakery” or “secures

a large loan and fills out paperwork,” but it involved inexpensive, accessible, easy-to-figure out examples that had been done many times before. “I literally Googled ‘how to start a podcast’ and 10, 12, 15 sites later, I had a pretty good idea of what I needed to learn,” Thompson said.

“Do something simple where creativity is the main aspect,” Thompson advised.

Fantastic Beasts proved to be anything but A Potter fan reflects on the latest installment Linh Nguyen Varsity Staff

On the evening of the opening weekend, I saw Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in IMAX 3D with a small group of friends. The theatre was packed and the audience was enthusiastic. Afterwards, I thought that the film was funny, beautiful, and darker than the Harry Potter series had ever gone — my friends disagreed with the last part.

I decided to catch a second showing and left significantly less blown away.

WARNING: The following review contains spoilers.

I was excited for the release of this film; the textbook has always been a fun read and it managed to live up to my expectations where Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and his beasts were concerned. But when I heard that the film would be one of a five part series, I was apprehensive. After watching it twice, I think it would have worked better as a fun flick, separate from the story of Gellert Grindelwald’s (Johnny Depp) dark rise to power.

An interesting story but drastically different in tone than Newt’s.

The film managed to capture the atmosphere of the wizarding world with beautiful settings and a

great score, including new melodies with several bars from “Hedwig’s Theme” dropped in. For example, the world inside the suitcase, though entirely CGI and far more impressive in IMAX 3D, was nonetheless enchanting. I felt like I was back in Harry’s universe — a feeling I didn’t get when I read the recently released screenplay Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The headquarters of the Magical Congress of the United States of America, the distinct streets of 1920s New York, and the increased use of high-speed apparition and nonverbal spells in everyday life fleshed out the wizarding world that fans had become so familiar with.

J.K. Rowling clearly has ambitious ideas for this new series, and she has proven herself capable of executing multiple complex storylines before. Yet in the Harry Potter series, the danger steadily escalated through each book and through the series as a whole. Its subtle bits of foreshadowing never detracted from the main story, whereas Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them suffers from conflicting tones, awkward pacing, forced set-up, and incomplete plot points.

It’s worth noting that Grindelwald’s appearance is appallingly bad. With the bleached and gelled hair, moustache, and maniacal

grin, the darkest wizard of the age looks like a caricature — and this is the man Albus Dumbledore fell in love with. Incidentally, Percival Graves (Colin Farrell), the character that Grindelwald disguised himself as throughout the film, was a much stronger design for a charismatic villain.

Appearances aside, Grindelwald’s reveal in the film managed to be both predictable and disappointing. Any viewer could pick up on his bad intentions, and Harry Potter fans would immediately recognize the Deathly Hallows symbol as Grindelwald’s adopted mark.

Despite this, everyone else I knew who had seen the film said that they merely thought Graves would be a disciple or follower, not the dark wizard himself. Considering how dramatic and delayed the reveal of Emperor Palpatine was in Star Wars or the Fire Lord in Avatar: The Last Airbender, I couldn’t help feeling that this major reveal fell flat.

In both viewings, magizoologist Newt Scamander and his beasts were the best parts of the film. Every animal was brilliantly designed in appearance and character. Harry Potter fans will recognize Nifflers as the beasts that Lee Jordan snuck in Professor Umbridge’s office to wreak havoc, Erumpents from the horn

MUBASHIR BAWEJA/THE VARSITY

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is in theatres now. in Luna Lovegood’s bedroom, and Bowtruckles from Harry’s Care of Magical Creatures class. For fans, these creatures came to life, and for those unfamiliar with the Harry Potter series, the animals were just as hilarious and adorable to watch.

The merits of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them ends when we venture beyond what this title encompasses. While part of the plot centres on Newt searching for his escaped creatures, the rest involves the rise of the dark wizard Grindelwald, an impending war between Muggles

and wizards, and a destructive Obscurial. So much of the film attempts to set up for the next four installments that the story becomes cluttered, underdeveloped, and rife with unsatisfying resolutions.

Eventually, this franchise will culminate in Dumbledore and Grindelwald’s famous duel in 1945, and I see no place for Redmayne’s character in that fight. Despite the jumbled plotlines, the Harry Potter universe and its characters still intrigued me enough to keep watching, stay open-minded, and wait to see what will follow.

NOVEMBER 28, 2016 • 13

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The UTSG food truck roundup Streetside campus favourites for an easy bite on a busy schedule Sasha Rakkar Varsity Contributor

As every U of T student at UTSG knows, trying to fit in a snack between classes can be challenging. In the rush of exams and last minute deadlines, the best place to grab a bite to eat lies right outside the classroom doors.

Rain or shine, St. George Street is always lined with a variety of food trucks that never disappoint in delicious, reasonably-priced food options.

Whether you have a regular spot or are looking to try something new, here’s a rundown of the tastiest treats along campus streets.

The Blue Truck Named after it’s easy-to-spot bright tint, The Blue Truck serves traditional street food with a twist. There’s usually a crowd of students lined up outside looking to indulge in a poutine with a twist. The menu features options of bacon, Mexican, garden, and chicken poutines, in addition to the classic burgers that keep customers coming back.

Pita Express This truck has been proudly serving U of T students for the last three years. It boasts a number of affordable pitas and combo options, including wraps, kebab plates, and sides to please any appetite. It’s no surprise that the most popular item served here is the shawarma. Its proximity to the infamous Robarts Library study spot makes it a first stop for the popular dish.

Ideal Catering Looking at campus food trucks, you can’t miss Ideal Catering, which has been serving the campus for around thirty years. The familiar face of Ivan, the welcoming server who’s worked here for thirteen years, shared that most of their customers are now regulars. The truck serves classic menu items like hot dog, hamburgers, and fish and chips. The supreme fries, added only two years ago, have become a popular option, along with best sellers like poutine.

A slightly healthier alternative.

Sushi Burrito A new addition to campus cuisine, the Sushi Burrito truck has become a hit because of its unique culinary twist on a student favourite.

The sushi burrito consists of a typical sushi filling wrapped in sticky rice and seaweed.

The menu includes many other options, including rice and ingredients typical of any reputable sushi joint. Obviously, the burritos take centre stage. The substantively-sized unique spicy crab burrito did not disappoint in value or taste.

“Would you like soda with that?”

Wokking On Wheels Another classic truck with a catchy name and a vibrant red colour, Wokking on Wheels is never short of a crowd. Located directly outside of Robarts, this truck offers students over 90 Asian-style cuisine options. The menu features items like beef, chow mein, eggplant, pork, and vegetables or tofu on fried or white rice. With so many choices, students with any taste can find what they’re looking for.

Wokking on Wheels’ #37 everytime.

PHOTOS BY SASHA RAKKAR/THE VARSITY

Catan for a cause The event brought Settlers of Catan enthusiasts together to raise money for cancer research Sasha Rakkar Varsity Contributor

On November 18, Snakes & Lattes, a cafe that allows patrons to choose from a large selection of board games to play during their visit, hosted the fifth annual Settlers of Catan gaming marathon — the ‘Catanathon.’ The event was held in support of the Canadian Cancer Society.

Every year, participants play the popular board game of trading and settlements for as long as donations are coming in from the supporting audience. This tournament surpassed the previous year’s length of 24 hours by one hour.

The event generated a total of $5,285.57 in donations, all going towards cancer research.

With the support of sponsoring partner Mill Street Brewery, Catanathon mixed gaming strategy, amusing challenges, and a no-quit attitude.

Snake & Lattes’ College Street location was filled with supporters there to witness the spectacle and try their hands at the many games lining the shelves.

Catan player Marisa Ranalli, along with ‘Game Guru’ teammates Mikhail Honoridez, Sioux Jensen-Potter, and Mandy Jelsma

How does one even acquire wasabi-filled Timbits? STEVEN LEE/THE VARSITY formed the core group of players settled in for the long haul. The game is a complicated slow-burn, often taking hours to play.

To lend the tournament some variety, the four were periodically rotated out with special guests or local celebrities, including YouTuber Andrew Huang, stand-up comedian Gavin

Stephens, and Space Channel host Ajay Fry. At the end of the 15-game Catan marathon, it was Honoridez who came out on top, winning a total of five games.

The entire 25 hours of gameplay was livestreamed on YouTube. Viewers were able donate online, witness the excitement

and check in over the course of the night to see how players were holding up. All the while, host Scott Emerson Moyle kept up with the gameplay, encouraged the donations to keep coming, and facilitated additional game challenges.

It wasn’t only the rounds of gameplay and loopiness of a 6:00 am coffee buzz that kept the entertainment going: live-streaming viewers were able to donate specified amounts to trigger certain events throughout the tournament. This included a $1.00 donation for your name to appear on the screen and a $5.00 highfive dedication.

For a higher price, there were options such as the cone of shame and the $50.00 sexy dance. Another quite popular, more suspenseful donation effect was that for $20.00, you could prompt a round of Timbit roulette in which the players would have to eat one of the baked treats with the one-in-seven chance of it being a wasabi-filled one.

At the end of the day, the teams powered through fatigue, challenging strategy, and 12 wasabi Timbits to make their contribution to cancer research and patient support.

Science

November 28, 2016 var.st/science science@thevarsity.ca

US election forecasts: what went wrong?

Forecasters and statisticians mistakenly called for a decisive Clinton victory

Govind Mohan Varsity Contributor TROY LAWRENCE/ILLUSTRATION

O

n November 8, 2016, at 7:00 pm EST, those glued to their TVs or phone screens harboured the expectation that Hillary Clinton had an 85 per cent chance of becoming the next American president. Three hours later — agonizing for some and joyous for others — President-elect Donald Trump had picked up Florida and Ohio, the latter of which has predicted every president since 1964.

Clinton’s chance of winning plummeted quickly. There were many questions on our minds, but one stood out more than the rest: how did this happen, given that some polls had predicted not just a victory for Clinton but a sizeable one at that?

To begin, many of them think that a late shift favouring Trump occurred on Election Day. Polls on November 8 showed a 3 per cent lead for Trump, whereas the day before, poll aggregator Real Clear Politics showed a 3 per cent lead for Clinton.

The other issue that could have led to a polling inaccuracy is what is referred to as ‘sampling bias.’ When selecting the sample size for a poll, two methods can be used: quota sampling and random sampling. Sampling bias can occur with each method.

Quota sampling is often used in online polls, whereby agencies attempt to replicate the de-

mographic makeup of the electorate. The problem with this approach is that people without access to the Internet may not get to participate in such polls, leading to inaccuracies.

Random sampling, which uses probability statistics to select a random, robust representation of the electorate, is considered more accurate than quota sampling. However, random sampling is usually conducted by phone, and its accuracy is a function of response rates, which can be lower than 10 per cent.

Another possible reason is the fact that polling agencies tend to ‘herd’ together. If a polling agency produces a significantly different result from its competitors, it might adjust the weights of the polling average to get a value in line with other polls, which may be mistakenly assumed by pollsters as more accurate.

There have been agencies, however, that have consistently maintained a polling average favouring Trump, like the LA Times poll.

Further discrepancies may have arisen on the end of poll respondents. In some cases, respondents who preferred the controversial Trump may have altered their answers. This may not have been the case for the many Trump supporters who were quite vociferous in their support, but it may have played a role among

minority groups whom Trump insulted, as they may have been reluctant to vocalize their support for Trump.

A conflation of these factors led to drastic polling errors, combined with the fact that the demographic of non college-educated whites was largely unaccounted for by pollsters.

It should also be noted that social media likely played a more significant role in this election than in any previous one in the US. Online echo-chambers form are communities where people thrive in ideological herds and have no exposure to opposing perspectives.

During the ‘Brexit’ referendum, in which citizens of United Kingdom voted on whether or not to remain within the European Union, the ‘Remain’ supporters were confident in their side’s victory, and they were surprised when the ‘Leave’ side came out ahead. Most people would agree that social media echochambers had a major role in the shock of Trump’s victory.

It is probable that a series of erroneous assumptions accumulated throughout the course of the election campaign. While data scientists were left reeling after the election, any combination of the above reasons can possibly be the reason why they got it wrong.

NOVEMBER 28, 2016 • 15

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Reflecting on a life of research excellence James Till, the father of stem cell biology, was once a student too Ramana Trivedi Varsity Contributor

Today, his pioneering work is taught around the world. His research has revolutionized our approach to how me might one day cure diseases like multiple sclerosis, heart disease, and leukemia, and it has catalyzed new and exciting investigations in regenerative medicine. He has been awarded countless accolades and has helped create an entirely new field of inquiry.

Dr. James Till, one of the founding fathers of stem cell research, comes from a very humble background, and his path to a life in research was anything but direct.

Till grew up working on a farm in Saskatchewan. He spent his childhood labouring during harvest seasons, from dawn till dusk, until a scholarship to the University of Saskatchewan changed his life. Once at the university, however, Till didn’t know how to proceed.

“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I thought that, after... first year, I’d have a clearer view.

During that first year, I considered a wide range of options, from pre-medicine to political economy,” explains Till.

He navigated around his uncertainty by choosing a variety of challenging and interesting courses. While pursuing a degree in physics, Till worked at a medical physics lab for a summer and found that he “liked the combination of the brain-challenging aspects of physics with the major practical need for improved cancer treatments.”

Following this experience, Till studied biophysics and biology, before ultimately choosing to focus on stem cell research with Dr. Ernest McCulloch.

“If you’re not sure what you want to do, put off any specialization as long as possible,” Till advises students. “You are going to spend much of your life working. If you are able to enjoy your work, you can spend the time much more fruitfully, for yourself and for others. I’ve always done research that I’ve found to be interesting. When I was younger, I would say that I liked doing research so much that I’d do it without pay, provided that I could find another way to support my family and myself.”

Nonetheless, Till cautions that a narrow focus on research has its drawbacks.

“Research can be very time-consuming. Less time is left for family, friends, contributions to one’s community, and hobbies. I’ve had the good fortune to have very supportive family members, loyal friends, and opportunities to work with non-profit organizations. I don’t regret the huge amount of time that I’ve spent on research, but I do regret some of the consequences of that choice,” he says.

Throughout both his research and his life, Till has maintained a strong intellectual rigour, citing his greatest challenge as “my own ignorance and how best to overcome it. There’s no real substitute for persistence and hard work. One cannot learn everything, so one must be selective about what one learns.”

“I cannot overstate the importance of wellchosen mentors,” he adds. “They need to be people who are respected in their fields of study

Dr. James Till continues to stay involved in research well into retirement.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JAMES TILL.

and who take the mentorship role very seriously. They must earn your respect, and you must earn theirs.”

Till has served as a mentor and a teacher, helping many students evolve into leading stem cell researchers.

Despite having established the revolutionary field of stem cell experimentation, lately Till has shifted to studying very different topics like the Internet. As he puts it, “[Whenever research has] ceased to be as interesting to me, including a desire not to compete with my former students... I [change] fields.”

Today, Till is still heavily involved in Internet research and is a strong proponent of open access publications. When asked about his thoughts on how students can live fulfilling lives, Till stresses that there is no single path one can take.

“I don’t think that there’s a single way to live a long and fulfilling life. I recall a conver-

sation, a few years ago, with a fellow curler.

At age 97, he was still actively participating in the game. A noteworthy feature of his long life is that he had survived the Second World War after being the tail-gunner on a bomber.

I asked him if his bomber had ever been hit by gunfire. He said, ‘Yes, often.’ I then asked him how he had managed to live such a long and fulfilling life. He replied, ‘I’ve been lucky.’ Of course, one cannot choose to be lucky. All one can do is to try hard to live as fulfilling [a] life as possible, given one’s values and abilities.”

Till continues to stay involved in research well into retirement, displaying his ceaseless tenacity for research which acts as an inspiration to younger generations. The scientific community will be forever grateful to Till for his contributions to stem cell research and for the many millions of lives he has and will continue to save.

Child neurologist aspires to treat autism, not cure it Evdokio Anagnostou is redefining the way we think about child autism Adelaide Attard Varsity Contributor

“One [way of thinking about autism is finding a] treatment that would make [patients’] lives better. But another way to think about it is that they probably… have certain skills that make them unique that should be celebrated and preserved. It’s not about the burden of autism. There is burden there for a lot of people and that is why we are developing treatments, but there is also a uniqueness there that is also very important in our society,” says Dr. Evdokia Anagnostou, Child Neurologist and Senior Clinician Scientist at the Bloorview Research Institute at the University of Toronto. She believes that autistic traits can be central to who a person is.

“We are not trying to find a way to cure autism. We don’t even think it is possible,” says Anagnostou. “What makes you autistic is the different wiring in your brain because most of your wiring happens in fetal life. So by the time you are born, you have, basically, an autistic brain.”

Anagnostou has devoted her life to finding treatment for people with autism. Her background with genomics, child development, and medicine have contributed to improving the outcomes and quality of life for children with autism spectrum disorders, as well as their families.

I also had curiosity as to why I couldn’t localize the lesion, and as I got into it, I started to understand that I wanted to find treatments… My work now goes from genomics to imaging to characterizing the behaviour. We hope that these will help us on our way to developing treatment.

The Varsity — I understand the breadth of your research is finding treatments for autistic children with the aim to improve their lives. What made you so interested in autism?

Evdokia Anagnostou — That’s a good question, lots of people ask me that question. It is not personal. I do not have somebody in my family with autism or anything like that. When I was training, I worked a lot with kids who had autism. Neurologists are trained to, based on the lesion, [localize the person’s vision]. There are kids, for example, who can’t move their arm. You are trained to figure out where the lesion in the brain is. So when you see kids with autism, if you are trying to localize the lesion of the brain, it’s a very hard thing to do. You actually cannot do it.

TV — Based on your discoveries around autism and children with autism, what findings have surprised you the most?

EA — [Our findings], on the biology side of things, show that there are many... different types of autism. So, 10 or so years ago, in relation to genomics, people expected that they would find certain genes that would explain the variability in children with autism. Now we are at 400 or so genes, and we are still counting. It looks like there are many... different ways one can end up with the diagnosis of autism.

TV — A lot of parents blame themselves when it comes to having a child with autism…What is your response to parents who react this way?

EA — Yes, so I would say that we know enough to give comfort and to say that there is nothing they’ve done wrong that have caused their child autism… We should not be blaming ourselves for that genetic variation… Obviously, we have no control over that… Although there is a high genetic risk, it’s not always genetic, because genetic means that it lives in your genes, and about half the time, it’s a random error that happens at the moment of conception.

TV — Lastly, what do you hope to discover next about autism?

EA — Well, there are quite a few things I would like to discover… There is no medication approved for the treatment of autism, anywhere… We are still waiting for the first success or the first draft that will decrease the dysfunction of autism.

Currently, Anagnostou is focusing on receiving more funding to further her research in the realm of autism. “There is always more work to do when figuring out the problem… I will never be bored,” she admits.

16 • THE VARSITY • SCIENCE

science@thevarsity.ca

Science Around Town

VIVIAN TONG/THE VARSITY

Birds aid the clouds

Farah Badr Varsity Contributor

As summer arrives in the North Pole, hundreds of sea-dwelling bird species from across the globe make the lengthy journey to the Arctic to clamour over their share of a summer-only, one-of-a-kind food haul.

Teeming Arctic waters provide the birds with an ultra-rich nutrient source, for which they are willing to forgo their warmer hometowns.

Although this migration pattern has been well-documented by ecologists, it only recently caught the attention of a different sort of scientist: environmental chemists.

Environmental chemists differ from ecologists in that they focus on the chemistry of an ecosystem rather than interactions between organisms in their natural habitats.

Dr. Jennifer Murphy of the Chemistry Department at U of T, along with former graduate student Greg Wentworth boarded the Amundsen, a Canadian coast guard ship, in July 2014 and sailed through the Nunavut archipelago towards the east Arctic sea to study this phenomenon from a fresh angle.

In addition to having 40 crew members, the ship also carried 40 researchers in oceanography and atmospheric science from various domestic and international universities, as well as government-affiliated institutions.

The trip was funded by The Climate Change and Atmospheric Research program at the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada through NETCARE, a network consisting of Canadian universities, international universities, and partner institutes aiming to study remote Canadian environments. The program is led

by Dr. Jonathan Abbatt, an Environmental Chemist at U of T.

U of T research shows that birds help shape the composition of our atmosphere

Serious Lessons from 200 Pancreas Cancer Whole Genomes U of T Professor of Surgery Dr. Steven Gallinger will be hosting this talk on the lessons learned from studying the whole genomes of 200 canceraffected pancreases.

Date: November 28 Time: 9:00 am Location: Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, 209 Victoria Street Admission: Free Arduino for Beginners Arduino is a ‘micro-controller,’ which means that it can be programmed to control other electronics and used in a number of DIY projects. Come out to this event, hosted by the Pop-Up Learning Lab, to learn more about Arduino and electronic programming!

Date: December 2 Time: 3:00–5:00 pm Location: Lillian H. Smith Toronto Public Library, 239 College Street Admission: Free with registration

The team’s hypothesis links animal behaviour and atmospheric chemistry. The migrating seabirds are thought to actively shape the Arctic atmosphere in unexpected ways.

These massive swarms of birds, who settle on Arctic shores to mate, nest, and feed, collectively produce copious amounts of waste known as ‘guano.’

Due to a diet mainly composed of marine animals, which are known to be rich in nitrogen, the birds’ guano becomes saturated with a nitrogen compound known as ‘urea’, which humans also release in their urine. The birds’ urea is then degraded by urea-feeding bacteria in the presence of water, and ammonia gas is released.

Ammonia gas has long been studied by environmental scientists for its major contribution to cloud formation. As Murphy describes it, the ammonia particles act as glue, holding molecules of sulphuric acid in the atmosphere together.

In turn, sulphuric acid acts as a seeding surface for water to collect and condense.

The more particles present, the more water molecules make up the cloud. When the particles are well spread out, the cloud appears brighter.

Clouds play a crucial part in maintaining the Earth’s temperature. Water in clouds absorbs radiation from the sun and reflects light away from the ground with the help of trapped molecules like ammonia and sulphuric acid. Murphy explains that this process has an overall cooling effect, and the brighter the cloud, the stronger the cooling effect will be.

The Murphy group sought to find out whether ammonia released by birds can impact the composition of the Arctic atmosphere. The team collected Arctic air samples which were scrubbed to remove water.

The residual molecules were analyzed using a technique known as ‘ion chromatography’ to characterize the compounds present in the samples and quantify potential cloud forming particles in them as well.

This was carried out over the span of six months, from April to October. The team compared their measurements with modelproduced predictions that either accounted for or did not account for seabird-induced ammonia emissions.

The group found that their measurements better fit the data derived from the first model during the six month period.

This model considered — among other factors — emission per bird, the population of present birds, and migration patterns.

It is hard to believe that gas released from a few million birds can alter the atmosphere of an area nearly five times the size of Canada. This, however, is possible because of the peculiar wind patterns in the North Pole.

In the summer the when seabirds migrate, the Arctic becomes almost completely isolated from air circulation at lower latitudes, creating, as Murphy described it, an incredibly “pristine” and still atmosphere, untainted by pollution from bustling hubs closer to the equator. Thanks to this, minor emissions can have a colossal impact.

Interestingly, a similar phenomenon could be taking place in the South Pole, where preliminary measurements have revealed an elevated rate of particle formation “downwind of penguin colonies,” according to Murphy.

The findings draw attention to the fact that, once again, nature has been proven to possess a formidable level of intricacy in its operations, and it demands respect from its most discourteous guests: humans.

The Science of Winter U of T’s Dr. Stephen Morris discusses the physics of icicles in a childfriendly way. This event, co-hosted by the Royal Canadian Institute of Science and Pueblo Science, is sure to be an educational experience for the whole family!

Date: December 4 Time: 2:00–3:30 pm Location: MacLeod Auditorium, Medical Sciences Building, 1 King’s College Circle Admission: Free with registration Women in Robotics Series: Erica Tiberia The Women in Robotics Series, held

by Women Engineers Toronto and Get Your Bot On!, will be featuring Erica Tiberia for its next session. Cohosted with the IEEE Toronto Section, Engineering in medicine and Biology Society, and Women in Engineering, it will highlight Tiberia’s work. Tiberia is a “robotocist, creative technologist, educator and entrepreneur.” Tiberia’s work with NASA has garnered extensive media attention, including from Bloomberg Tech and the Discovery Channel.

Date: December 8 Time: 6:00–9:00 pm Location: Health Innovation Hub, 263 McCaul Street Admission: Free with registration

Sports

November 28, 2016 var.st/sports sports@thevarsity.ca

A human exploration: excerpts from some of the world’s best sports writing In the words of Hunter S. Thompson, David Foster Wallace, Norman Mailer, and Haruki Murakami Sean Smith, Sports Editor

Sports writing is often overlooked and lacking critical acclamation.

At its best, the genre ostensibly covers sports while still telling human stories about the people who play and enjoy sports.

The following four excerpts are written in sometimes drastically differing styles on a wide variety of sporting topics. This is just one small selection of sports writing at its finest:

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running In his philosophical memoir on running and writing, Murakami gives voice to his introspection and adds insight to a personal sport.

“I just run. I run in a void. Or maybe I should put it the other way: I run in order to acquire a void. But as you might expect, an occasional thought will slip into this void. People’s minds can’t be a complete blank. Human beings’ emotions are not strong or consistent enough to sustain a vacuum.

What I mean is, the kinds of thoughts and ideas that invade my emotions as I run remain subordinate to that void.

Lacking content, they are just random thoughts that gather around that central void.

The thoughts that occur to me while I’m running are like clouds in the sky.

Clouds of all different sizes. They come and they go, while the sky remains the same sky as always. The clouds are mere guests in the sky that pass away and vanish, leaving behind the sky.

The sky both exists and doesn’t exist.

It has substance and at the same time doesn’t. And we merely accept that vast expanse and drink it in.”

Federer as Religious Experience An excerpt from his article on the majesty of Roger Federer, Wallace’s command of the English language parallels his subject’s mastery of tennis.

“A top athlete’s beauty is next to impossible to describe directly. Or to evoke. Federer’s forehand is a great liquid whip, his backhand a one-hander that he can drive flat, load with topspin, or slice — the slice with such snap that the ball turns shapes in the air and skids on the grass to maybe ankle height. His serve has world-class pace and a degree of placement and variety no one else comes close to; the service motion is lithe and uneccentric, distinctive (on TV) only in a certain eel-like all-body snap at the moment of impact. His anticipation and court sense are otherworldly, and his footwork is the best in the game — as a child, he was also a soccer prodigy.

All this is true, and yet none of it really explains anything or evokes the experience of watching this man play. Of witnessing, firsthand, the beauty and genius of his game. You more have to come at the aesthetic stuff obliquely, to talk around it, or — as Aquinas did with his own ineffable subject — to try to define it in terms of what it is not.”

The Fight Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, Mailer’s work covers the Rumble in the Jungle, the iconic fight in Zaire between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali. “They sparred inconclusively for the first half-minute. Then the barrage began. With Ali braced on the ropes, as far back on the ropes as a deep-sea fisherman is braced back in his chair when setting the hook on a big strike, so Ali got ready and Foreman came on to blast him out. A shelling reminiscent of artillery battles in World War I began. Neither man moved more than a few feet in the next minute and a half.

Across that embattled short space Foreman threw punches in barrages of four and six and eight and nine, heavy maniacal slamming punches, heavy as the boom of oaken doors, bombs to the body, bolts to the head, punching until he could not breathe, backing off to breathe again and come in again, bomb again, blast again, drive and steam and slam the torso in front of him, wreck him in the arms, break through those arms, get to his ribs, dig him out, dig him out, put the dynamite in the earth, lift him, punch him, punch him up to heaven, take him out, stagger him — great earthmover he must have sobbed to himself, kill this mad and bouncing goat.

And Ali, gloves to his head, elbows to his ribs, stood and swayed and was rattled and banged and shaken like a grasshopper at the top of a reed when the wind whips, and the ropes shook and swung like sheets in a storm, and Foreman would lunge with his right at Ali’s chin and Ali go flying back out of reach by a half-inch, and half out of the ring, and back in to push at Foreman’s elbow and hug his own ribs and sway, and sway just further, and lean back and come forward from the ropes and slide off a punch and fall back into the ropes with all the calm of a man swinging in the rigging. All the while, he used his eyes. They looked like stars, and he feinted Foreman out with his eyes, flashing white eyeballs of panic he did not feel...”

The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved Thompson, better known for his writings about US counterculture than for his work as a sports journalist, covered the 1970 Kentucky Derby by focusing more on the spectators than the horses.

“He had done a few good sketches, but so far we hadn’t seen that special kind of face that I felt we would need for a lead drawing. It was a face I’d seen a thousand times at every Derby I’d ever been to. I saw it, in my head, as the mask of the whiskey gentry—a pretentious mix of booze, failed dreams and a terminal identity crisis; the inevitable result of too much inbreeding in a closed and ignorant culture. One of the key genetic rules in breeding dogs, horses or any other kind of thoroughbred is that close inbreeding tends to magnify the weak points in a bloodline as well as the strong points. In horse breeding, for instance, there is a definite risk in breeding two fast horses who are both a little crazy. The offspring will likely be very fast and also very crazy. So the trick in breeding thoroughbreds is to retain the good traits and filter out the bad. But the breeding of humans is not so wisely supervised, particularly in a narrow Southern society where the closest kind of inbreeding is not only stylish and acceptable, but far more convenient—to the parents—than setting their offspring free to find their own mates, for their own reasons and in their own ways.”

Hunter S. Thompson

Haruki Murakami Norman Mailer David Foster Wallace

18 • THE VARSITY • SPORTS

sports@thevarsity.ca

The Varsity Blues men’s hockey team returned home this week after a big weekend on the road. The Blues (1–12–2) had notched their first win of the season on November 18 but then fell 5–4 in a disappointing loss to the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks the following day.

Wednesday’s matchup against the Ryerson Rams (11–2–1) saw over 3,500 elementary school students fill Varsity Arena for the Downtown Showdown Hockey School Day. The annual event gives young fans from the Greater Toronto Area a chance to watch the two inner city rivals square off on the ice. The game marked the one hundredth meeting between the Blues and the Rams since 1972; Varsity Arena was abuzz with excitement as the Blues aimed to secure their first home win of the season.

The Blues got on the board first when forward Matt Campagna fired a high wrist shot from near the blue line. After Rams goaltender Taylor Dupuis made an initial save, the rebound was mishandled, and the puck fluttered toward the top of the crease. Campagna gathered the loose puck and flipped it into the net over Dupuis’s glove hand, six and a half minutes into the first period.

The Rams, unfazed, responded 14 seconds later. Ryerson defenseman Alex Basso fired a wrist shot past the Toronto goaltender, Andrew Hunt, to tie the game at one.

There were many scoring chances for both teams in the first two periods, and both goaltenders made impressive stops to keep the score at one apiece. Hunt made a superb goalmouth lunge to deny a Ryerson 2-on-1 chance in the nineteenth minute of the first period, while at the other end Dupuis made a series of fine saves as the Blues came out firing early in the second period.

The tie-breaker came at 15:29 of the second. Ryerson forward Vince Figliomeni scored after the puck caromed off the back boards and onto his stick. His goal tipped the game decisively in favour of the Rams. Ryerson forward Matt Mistele potted a powerplay goal, and Aaron Armstrong scored twice in the period to make the score 5–1, his second goal coming with only 12 seconds left in the game.

The Blues hoped for a better outcome on Friday night at a considerably quieter Varsity Arena. They faced off against the York University Lions (9–4–2), who sat one spot below the first-place Rams in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West Division heading into the game.

The Lions’ quick start put them on the board early. York forward Greg Milner took a pass in the slot from teammate Steven Janes and deked out Blues goaltender Michael Nishi to score at 2:27 of the first period.

The Lions’ speed overwhelmed the home team, creating a number of turnovers and odd-man rushes into the Blues’ end. The Lions made it 2–0 when a perfect cross-seam pass

U of T Varsity Blues basketball double-headers This week boasts two home court double-headers for our men’s and women’s basketball teams. Both teams are gaining traction and rebounding with 3-game win streaks going into the first double-header event.

Varsity Blues vs. University of Windsor Lancers Date: November 30 Time: Women’s at 6:00 pm, Men’s at 8:00 pm Location: Goldring Centre Kimel Field House Cost: Free BROCK EDWARDS/THE VARSITY

Blues still looking for their second win. from forward Colton Vannucci allowed winger Kyle Campbell to tap the puck into the Blues’ net at 7:16.

The Lions continued to dominate in the second period, preying on the Blues’ porous defense. A tip-in powerplay goal by Josh LaFrance made it 3–0 a minute in, and 44 seconds later Campbell netted his second of the night, extending the Lions’ lead to four goals. The Blues’ offense did not help their team’s chances, compiling a mere eight shots over the first two periods.

A stronger third period allowed the Blues to break the shutout. After the Ryerson goalie failed to clear the puck, Blues forward Aidan Wal-

lace buried it to make the score 4–1.

The Lions responded quickly when their top scorer Derek Sheppard fired a shot that slipped through Nishi’s pads at 10:39. Sheppard’s seventh goal of the season capped the Lions’ 5–1 victory.

With the two 5–1 losses this week, Toronto’s record sits at 1–12–2, placing them in the basement of the OUA standings. After winter break and a string of road games, the Blues will return to Varsity Arena on January 15, 2017.

The Blues’ road trip begins in Ottawa, where they will face off against the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees (6–6–2) on Friday, December 2.

Varsity Blues vs. Western Mustangs Date: December 3 Time: Women’s at 2:00 pm, Men’s at 4:00 pm Location: Goldring Centre Kimel Field House Cost: Free Drop-in Dance Fire No previous dance experience is required for this fusion of African, Caribbean, and Latin rhythms with an urban flair.

Date: Now until December 11 Day: Mondays Time: 8:10–9:00 pm Location: Hart House Exercise Room Cost: Free High Park Walking Tours Led by volunteer scientists, historians, and local naturalists, these tours are designed to help you explore the unique features of High Park. Held on the first and third Sundays of the month, each tour focuses on a different theme, so these casual walking tours can be repeatedly attended.

Visit the High Park website for additional information and a complete schedule.

How to shoot a wrist shot Some tips on how to improve your game Raghad A.K. Varsity Contributor

The wrist shot is one of the most important elements of hockey; it’s always awesome to watch players shoot wrist shots past goalies and into the top corner. Part of what makes it so enjoyable is that not all players are able to effectively shoot wrist shots.

James van Riemsdyk, Phil Kessel, Sidney Crosby, and Tyler Seguin are just a few of many great players who are able to make stadiums full of people go crazy with the power and accuracy of their wrist shots.

The wrist shot is, at times, favoured over other shots because it is relatively easy to control and has a quick release time. It’s more of a finesse shot than the slap shot, which typically shoots the puck faster but with much less accuracy.

The power of the shot originates with the transfer of weight from the back foot to the front foot, while

To

Brock Edwards Varsity Staff

Sport s

Blues shut down by Ryerson, York

o u nd Ar

wn

Men’s hockey team with one win in 15 games

Date: December 4 Time: 10:30 am to 12:00 pm Location: High Park Cost: Free

It’s not all in the wrist. LICA VOLPI/CC FLICKR twisting the torso. The power generated is passed down through the stick.

It is important to put enough pressure on the stick so that it flexes while still reserving enough power to propel the stick and the puck forward.

It is ideal to cradle the puck at the base of the stick’s blade when be-

ginning to move the stick forward.

The front hand pushes the stick and the puck forward, while the top hand pulls the top of the stick back.

As the stick is pushed forward, the puck should slide towards the end of the blade. When the puck is at the tip of the blade, the wrists must be snapped up fast, flipping the blade of the stick up and lifting

the puck off the ice. As the puck breaks connection with the stick, the wrists should roll over and the arms should follow through, aiming the stick in the same direction the puck is travelling.

Now that you know the basics, practice is your best friend. This is a difficult shot to master but it is a game changer when you do.

TPASC Yoga Rave The Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre (TPASC) is hosting a balanced, alternative way to reduce stress and have fun.

The Yoga Rave offers a simultaneous stimulation of music, yoga, dance, and meditation.

Date: December 1 Time: 8:30–9:30 pm Location: TPASC, Studios 2 and 3 Cost: Free for UTSC students and TPASC members $5.00 cash for non-members

NOVEMBER 28, 2016 • 19

var.st/sports

“No, we don’t fly” Magical brooms stowed safely away, U of T Muggles compete in Quidditch regional championships Alex Mckeen Editor-in-Chief

On the ides of November while many U of T students were preparing for an onslaught of midterms, two determined teams representing UTSG and UTSC respectively travelled to Mississauga to compete in the Eastern Regional Championships of what magical folk commonly believe is the best sport in the world: Quidditch.

The sport was first described

by J.K. Rowling in the Harry Potter series as a favourite pastime of young witches and wizards. However, Co-Captain Garnet Lollar of the UTSG-based Centaurs team is quick to affirm that the sport can extend equally to Muggles and even those who may not be familiar with the series. “Being a Harry Potter fan isn’t a pre-requisite at all; in fact many people are more intrigued by the sport due to its physicality alone and not [its] lore,” he explained.

The Muggle version of the sport has gained enough traction in universities and other private clubs to warrant both an international association and a national governing body in Canada. Quidditch Canada, which was founded in 2014,

organized the Eastern regionals on November 12, with 14 teams competing.

The U of T teams were placed in the bottom pool of the tournament, along with Ryerson University’s team. The Centaurs made it through the starting pool to the semi-finals before being defeated by the Carleton University team.

Lollar, who plays keeper for the Centaurs, attributes the sport’s popularity to its exciting nature and inherent inclusivity. “Much like [how] Ultimate [frisbee] is growing as an underground sport, Quidditch is a highly competitive, athletic, and fun sport that often gets written off due to misconceptions,” he says.

Lollar describes the game as a “contact sport involving onearmed tackles, pushing, charging, and other common forms of (relatively) safe physical engagement.”

It is also a gender inclusive sport, and the rules require that no more than four members of a particular gender — defined as male, female, or other — may play for the team at one time.

The national Quidditch championships will be held in Victoria, British Columbia in April 2017.

MIA CARNEVALE/THE VARSITY

Quidditch gameplay in the magical and Muggle worlds Objective

Teams compete to collect the most points. The sport’s nuance and intricacy lie in how it is scored and the specialized player positions.

Set-up

The Quidditch field is called the ‘pitch’. In the traditional, magical version of the game, three tall vertical hoops are installed at either end of a large field. The defining characteristic of magical Quidditch is that all the players participate on flying broomsticks, making the sport fast-paced and dangerous should a player fall from the height.

Muggle Quidditch makes concessions for the fact that non-magic folk have not succeeded in bewitching common household objects for the purpose of flight. The hoops are installed closer to ground level, and players must ‘ride’ a three-foot broom in order to remain in play.

Positions Magical

Chasers

Muggle

Three players on each team aim to score points by throwing a The Muggle Chasers have the same objective as their magical ‘Quaffle’ through one of the opposing team’s hoops. Each goal is counterparts. A deflated volleyball serves as the Quaffle. worth 10 points for the scoring team.

Keeper

The Keeper’s job is to defend their team’s hoops, like a goalie.

They do not score points but remain the primary defensive player on the team.

Muggle Keepers are also scoring players who handle the Quaffle. They have some advantages in their home team’s defensive zone.

Beaters

There are two Beaters on each team, tasked with incapacitating the other team’s players to the greatest possible extent. They carry bats to aim enchanted flying ‘Bludgers’ towards the opposing team.

Muggle Beaters have a slightly less brutal job than their magical counterparts; they aim dodgeballs at the opposing team in order to “knock them off” their brooms. When a player is hit, they must surrender the Quaffle.

Seeker

With only one ultimate purpose, Seekers can have the greatest impact on the outcome of the game. They must search for the tiny flying golden ‘Snitch’ that is enchanted to evade capture.

The game does not end until the Snitch is caught by one of the team’s Seekers — catching the Snitch is worth 150 points.

Muggle Seekers must also compete to catch the Snitch, which is a flag attached to a third-party player dressed in yellow. The nonmagical Snitch is released 18 minutes into gameplay. The Seeker who catches the it wins 30 points for their team and ends the game.

NOVEMBER 28, 2016 • 20

DIVERSIONS

Difficulty: it says level four

SUDOKU “You have a 9x9 grid and then you have to make each row and each column and each 3x3 square have each of the digits from 1-9 appear once.”

CROSSWORD Answer key to the Issue 10 crossword.

A Conversation with Daniel Dale December 16, 5:30–7:00 pm

The Toronto Star's Washington correspondent will be here to talk about his experience covering President-elect Donald Trump during the US election.