September 12, 2016

Vol. CXXXVII, No. 2 September 12, 2016 thevarsity.ca —— The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880

U of T seeks new Learning Portal

0 0 0 , 0

Three companies vie to become U of T’s pick

0 3 $

Dan Silveira Varsity Contributor

NATHAN CHAN/THE VARSITY

U of T is seeking a replacement for its aging Portal, which is currently offered by Blackboard.

The Academic Toolbox Renewal is an initiative launched under the sponsorship of Vice-President Innovations in Undergraduate Education Susan McCahan and Vice-President University Operations Scott Mabury; it seeks a comprehensive digital solution for the needs of instructors and students, with the new Learning Portal being the backbone of this initiative.

“Feedback from the University community is that the web interface for the Portal is clunky and out of date, and it doesn’t flow the way people would like,” reads a portion of the Academic Toolbox Renewal website. “It’s also hard for instructors to incorporate new tools into their teaching.”

Portal, page 4

230 College Street currently houses the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design.

UTSU faces Student Commons woes Cash reserves meant to offset operational deficits went towards some “unjustified” costs, union exec says Tom Yun News Editor

With the projected opening date for the much-anticipated Student Commons in about a year’s time, the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) is forecasting approximately $300,000 in operational deficits within the first year of its opening.

The plans for a student-run centre on UTSG has been in the works since 2007, when students voted in favour of implementing a levy to fund the construction of the Student Commons. The location at 100 Devonshire Place, which is currently home to the Goldring Centre for High Performance, was originally chosen for the Student Commons. The site for the Student Commons was later moved to 230 College Street, where the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design is currently located.

Eight years after the approval of the levy,

the Student Commons Agreement, which defines the terms of the UTSU’s use of the building, received approval from Governing Council in February 2015 and was signed by the union in April 2015.

“So, over a number of years, it was successive years, very collegial, very cooperative discussion, negotiations involving successive student leaders and their staff, various people from the university side, myself, individuals from planning, Sheila Brown, Chief Finance Officer,” said U of T Vice-President University Operations Scott Mabury, describing the process of negotiating the Student Commons agreement.

However, UTSU Vice-President Internal and Services Mathias Memmel, who assumed office this year, believes that the contract was negotiated “too quickly” and thinks that the

project constitutes a sizeable financial burden on the union.

The Costs “The most interesting thing in [the Student Commons Agreement] is the costing of what each party is required to do,” said Memmel.

Under the Student Commons Agreement, the UTSU is required to pay a net-assignable square metre (NASM) cost. The union is charged approximately $200 per square metre of usable space in the building. The money will go towards building maintenance and utilities.

In addition to the NASM costs, the union is also required to pay for a building manager and security services. According to Memmel, “in a normal situation, the university would appoint a building manager.”

U of T student still detained in Dhaka Friends continue to fight for Tahmid Hasib Khan’s release Rupinder Liddar Varsity Contributor

After two months since a deadly siege occured in Bangladesh, friends and family of U of T student Tahmid Hasib Khan continue to await his release from Bangladeshi authorities.

On July 1, five militants entered the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. During the attack, 20 hostages were killed. Khan was among thirteen individuals who survived the attack. Since July, Khan has been held without charges by the Bangladesh police with little communication to his friends and family.

Khan had finished his fourth year at U of T, completing a major in Global Health and two minors in Anthropology and Statistics.

During his time at U of T, Khan was involved in Model United Nations and served as a Director for the Bangladeshi Students’ Association. At the time of the deadly attack, Tahmid was en route to Nepal for an internship with UNICEF, when he stopped in Dhaka to visit friends and family.

Student Commons, page 8

Tahmid, page 5

Comment

Features

Arts & Culture

Science

Let us swim Exploring what lead to the burkini ban

Words of wisdom Upper-year students share their experiences, advice, and regrets

End of a legacy A reflection on The Tragically Hip

Celebrating science Science Literacy Week is coming to town

Page 9

Page 12

Page 15

Page 19

2 • THE VARSITY • NEWS

Vol. CXXXVII, No. 2 21 Sussex Avenue, Suite 306 Toronto, ON, M5S 1J6 416-946-7600

news@thevarsity.ca

See our frosh parade coverage at var.st/frosh2016

thevarsity.ca thevarsitynewspaper @TheVarsity the.varsity the.varsity The Varsity

MASTHEAD Alex McKeen Editor-in-Chief

editor@thevarsity.ca

Jacob Lorinc Managing Online Editor

online@thevarsity.ca

Jaren Kerr Managing Editor Mubashir Baweja Creative Director

managing@thevarsity.ca creative@thevarsity.ca

Ariel Gomes Senior Copy Editor

copy@thevarsity.ca

Tom Yun News Editor

news@thevarsity.ca

Teodora Pasca Comment Editor Rachel Chen Features Editor Lisa Power Arts & Culture Editor Shaan Bhambra Science Editor

Photo of the week:

comment@thevarsity.ca features@thevarsity.ca arts@thevarsity.ca science@thevarsity.ca

Sean Smith Sports Editor

sports@thevarsity.ca

Vanessa Wang Design Editor

design@thevarsity.ca

Nathan Chan Photo Editor

photo@thevarsity.ca

Elham Numan Illustration Editor

Follow us on Snapchat at the.varsity

illustration@thevarsity.ca video@thevarsity.ca

Shaq Hosein Video Editor Isaac Seah and Tony Lee Web Developers

web@thevarsity.ca

Vacant Associate Design Editor

Perlyn Cooper Associate Comment Editor

Vacant Associate Photo Editor

Vacant Associate Features Editor

Vacant Associate Illustration Editor

Gabrielle Warren Associate A&C Editor

Vacant Associate Video Editor

Hannah Fung and Connie Lui Associate Science Editors

Vacant Associate Senior Copy Editor Kaitlyn Simpson and Emaan Thaver Associate News Editors

Trevor True Blue shows his U of T pride before the Tri-Campus Parade. NATHAN CHAN/THE VARSITY

From the archives:

Vacant Associate Sports Editor

Copy Editors Antonia Facciponte, Christy Ahn, Edie Guo, Eleanor Lazarova, Gabriel Wee, Hannah Bekkers, Jacob Lorinc, Julie Shi, Katelyn MacFadyen, Kelly Bilenkis, Mariyah Warsi, Michael Teoh, Nic Bryenton, Riley Morris, Shannon Jankari, Ted Fraser, Uri Livne-Bar, Vanda Mayer, Ziyan Chen Designers Judy Hu

BUSINESS OFFICE Cherlene Tay Business Manager

business@thevarsity.ca

Kary Cozens Business Associate

kary@thevarsity.ca

Yaakov Spivak Advertising Executive

yaakov@thevarsity.ca

The Varsity is the University of Toronto’s largest student newspaper, publishing since 1880. It is printed by Master Web Inc. on recycled newsprint stock. Content © 2016 by The Varsity. All rights reserved. Any editorial inquiries and/or letters should be directed to the sections associated with them; emails listed above. The Varsity reserves the right to edit all submissions.

Inquiries regarding ad sales can be made to ads@thevarsity.ca. ISSN: 0042-2789

U of T students watch as the events of September 11, 2001 unfold. The Varsity, Vol. CXXII.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2016 • 3

var.st/news

Petition for referendum on UTSU membership with the CFS launched CFS Chairpersons stress importance of unity, advocacy Kaitlyn Simpson Associate News Editor

Students have launched a campaign to petition for a referendum on the University of Toronto Student Union’s (UTSU) continued membership within the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS).

The campaign, called You Decide UofT, is running two separate petitions to achieve the referendum: one for the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario (CFS-O) provincial executives and one for the national executives of the CFS. The CFS bylaws require a petition to receive signatures from 20 per cent of UTSU members at UTSG in order to trigger a referendum on continued membership within the federation. The CFS is an organization made up of over 80 post-secondary student unions across the country. Along with the UTSU, its membership includes the Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students (APUS), the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union (UTGSU), the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU), and the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU) are also members of the CFS; they are all recognized separately by the CFS. The UTGSU’s recent attempt to leave the CFS was unsuccessful after the union’s referendum missed the quorum by seven votes.

You Decide UofT says it does not take a position on what the outcome of the hypothetical referendum should be. “We simply believe that students should have the opportunity to decide if they want to continue to be in the CFS themselves,” reads a portion of the

180 Bloor Street West, which houses the CFS-O offices.

NATHAN CHAN/THE VARSITY

description on its Facebook page.

Former UTSU board member Daman Singh spoke to The Varsity on behalf of You Decide UofT, discussing the practical steps the organization will take in reaching the referendum: “We will work with various groups on campus to receive the signatures of at least 20 per cent of local 98 members. Following this, we will ensure that the petition is delivered by registered mail to their respective Executives. The most rigorous part of the petition is ensuring we follow each and every rule that the organizations have laid out.”

In April, the UTSU ad-hoc committee on the CFS, of which Singh was a member, released its report criticizing the federation’s structure and defederation process.

UTSU President Jasmine Wong Denike declined to take a position on the campaign and noted: “The bylaws of the CFS state that any petition must be initiated by students, not by the students’ union. As such, the UTSU takes no position on the petition at this time. We are forbidden from doing so, and intend to respect the rules.”

In an email to The Varsity, CFS National Chairperson Bilan Arte said: “I am confident

that U of T students understand the importance of a national student movement. All five students’ unions at the university are united under the national banner of the CFS and they are stronger because of it.”

When asked what future steps the CFS will take in response to You Decide UofT, Arte mentioned the CFS was on campus throughout orientation and would continue to be present all fall.

Rajean Hoilett, the Chairperson of CFSO, made similar remarks: “I believe that students are stronger when we are united and working together. In the last year alone we’ve all seen students achieve significant victories right here in Ontario and across the country.”

“But we still have so much work to do,” Hoilett added. “With the expiration of the current

tuition fee framework and the government looking at changing how it funds colleges and universities, students have a real opportunity to advance our call for affordable and accessible post-secondary education.”

In addition, both Arte and Hoilett spoke on the importance of the CFS various activism efforts on campus.

You Decide UofT organizer Jonathan Webb recognized the CFS’s advocacy efforts but stressed the importance of giving students a choice on continued membership.

“We acknowledge the efforts put forth by the CFS by way of activism and advocacy.

The goal of a referendum is to give students an opportunity to decide if what they do is up to par and still fitting their needs after running on 14 years of membership,” Webb said.

Former UTSU President Munib Sajjad hired as UTMSU Executive Director Sajjad moves to full-time role with union after serving in part-time capacity Kaitlyn Simpson Associate News Editor

The University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) has filled the vacancy created after the departure of the union’s previous Executive Director.

Munib Sajjad, who had served as University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) President in the 2013–2014 year, was hired as the UTMSU’s new Executive Director on August 18.

Prior to his hiring as Executive Director, he had filled a similar position at UTMSU called the Executive Coordinator since July 11.

According to the job description, the Executive Coordinator was a part-time position with duties that were identical to those of the Executive Director, with the exception of financial responsibilities. UTMSU President Nour Alideeb told The Varsity that the union has since discontinued the Executive Coordinator position.

Alideeb did not participate in either the Executive Coordinator Hiring Committee or the Executive Director Hiring Committee af-

ter having recused herself to avoid a conflict of interest.

Last year, Sajjad served as the VicePresident Internal for the Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students and the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union before leaving both roles.

Sajjad replaces Walied Khogali, who had had been heavily involved in student unions for nearly a decade. Khogali was on the executive of the Students’ Administrative Council — now commonly called the UTSU — and later as Chair of the UTMSU before becoming the union’s Executive Director.

Sajjad could not be reached for comment.

When asked about the UTMSU’s recent shifts in staff, Alideeb said that she hopes these changes will improve the union’s service delivery and advocacy efforts.

“We hope to better accommodate our students needs. We want to better serve our members, clubs, and academic societies, so whatever changes we make will reflect the commitment of better advocacy and services that will benefit our members.”

Munib Sajjad, seen during the 2013 UTSU elections.

BERNARDA GOSPIC/THE VARSITY

4 • THE VARSITY • NEWS

news@thevarsity.ca

Desire2Learn

Portal, from cover Three companies — Blackboard, Desire2Learn, and Instructure — are vying to become the supplier for the new Learning Portal. Each held live presentations on campus during the summer.

The testing period for the companies’ offerings has begun. Another round of presentations in late fall will occur before a final supplier is chosen in December.

Desire2Learn Brightspace, developed by Desire2Learn, has a simple, all-white look to it and is personalized by containing the U of T logo in the top left corner, unlike Blackboard, which displayed its own logo in the top left corner. It also gives users the ability to pin specific courses to appear at the top of the screen, however, this feature takes up a large amount of the screen space causing users to have to scroll down in order to see the current announcements.

Brightspace comes with thorough analytic tools that not only allow students to see how well they are doing in their course but also allow professors to see how much time their students are spending on the portal. Additionally, the service is capable of alerting professors to which students are struggling the most in order to recommend one-on-one meetings. Brightspace allows professors to have these one-onone meetings with a student through the portal using a built-in video calling application. This application also gives the professor the option to make their announcements through a video announcement rather than a text.

Much like Blackboard, Brightspace also has a mobile app, however, the app is not simply a port of the browser version like Blackboard’s. The Brightspace mobile app is called Pulse and looks visually similar to an agenda, with a strong focus on analytic tools. Lastly, Brightspace has its own app store that students and professors can install on their portal for access to new functions.

Blackboard Blackboard’s new offering presents a more minimalistic and modern design compared to the current Learning Portal. Once signed in, the website opens

up its new activity stream page, which gathers any new announcements, upcoming assignments, or recently uploaded grades and places them in a vertical timeline.

By doing so, it allows students to quickly remind themselves of approaching deadlines, while being able to see if there is any other important information that needs their attention. Additionally, the activity stream is customizable, allowing students to filter the notifications that show up in the timeline.

Another new feature to Blackboard’s portal is the way new content is opened; users can slide out of a display from the right side of the screen onto another layer, rather than opening up a new window. This prevents students from having to click the back button after viewing an announcement to return to the main page or having to wait for new pages to load. The new Blackboard is also filled with analytic tools and the ability to save automatically while working on it.

The most powerful aspect of the Blackboard system is their mobile app, which underwent all the same changes the browser version went through as well, making it run more efficiently.

Blackboard

Instructure Canvas is a portal system developed by Instructure, which has also been personalized with the U of T logo in the top left corner and the university’s white and blue colours. Similar to Blackboard, it has a minimalistic look with a left-sided menu, allowing users to quickly switch between the dashboard, courses, and calendar.

The courses tab also has a slide-out function that releases a new layer containing a list of the users’ current classes. Similar to Brightspace, the Canvas dashboard has the course title and visual thumbnails on the screen to click on, but puts the announcement section on the top right of the screen, avoiding the scrolling issue that Brightspace users may experience.

Although Canvas does not have its own mobile app, the website is compatible with mobile devices. Canvas also has a calendar that shows all upcoming assignments and reminders.

Instructure

UTAM names new President & Chief Investment Officer Daren Smith replaces Bill Moriarty Tom Yun News Editor

PHOTO BY JOHNNY GUATTO, COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

Smith previously held a senior role with UTAM since 2008.

U of T has announced that Daren Smith has taken the helm of the University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation (UTAM) as President and CIO. Smith had served as UTAM’s Managing Director, Manager Selection & Porfolio Construction since 2008. Prior to joining UTAM, he was a Partner & Director of Managing Research at Keel Capital, a pension plan based in Nova Scotia.

Smith replaces Bill Moriarty, who had served as the President & CEO of UTAM for eight years before retiring in March 2015. In the interim period, UTAM Chair John Switzer had been serving as act-

ing CEO. In the 2015 Sunshine List, Moriarity was listed as Ontario’s highest-paid public employee.

Smith was the seventeenth highest paid in the province and third highest paid at U of T under his previous role.

Smith’s move to the role also marks a new title for UTAM’s head: UTAM is no longer governed by a CEO and instead by a Chief Investment Officer.

Smith told U of T News that he hopes to generate strong returns and raise awareness about UTAM as President.

UTAM is responsible for managing the university’s pension and endowment fund investments, a portfolio of $8.1 billion, according to its most recent annual report.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2016 • 5

var.st/news

U of T releases draft Policy on Sexual Violence Provincial legislation requires universities to establish sexual violence policies by January 2017

The university is accepting feedback on the draft policy online. RENE BEIGNET/CC FLICKR

Helena Najm Varsity Contributor

In response to on-campus action against sexual violence and the requirements of provincial legislation, the University of Toronto’s draft Policy on Sexual Violence was released on September 7.

The draft is the result of 18 months of research and consultation by experts and panels; it covers the process of reporting or disclosing an act of sexual violence, whether perpetrated by a member of the university community or not, and whether committed on- or off-campus. All members of the uni-

versity community will be covered by this policy.

The policy also calls for the establishment of a Sexual Violence Prevention and Support Centre, which will undertake education and prevention initiatives to ensure that a culture of sexual violence is not tolerated and is treated from all angles.

Stipulations within the draft policy include not requiring that a complainant file a report to be able to use academic accommodation, such as exam or assignment deferrals, hous-

ing services, and counselling.

While the Sexual Violence Prevention and Support Centre will focus on educational and preventative efforts, reports and subsequent investigations will be dealt with through the Office of Safety and High Risk. Both the complainant and the respondent would have access to the investigator’s name and particulars about the case.

In the case of a staff member respondent, the Vice-President Human Resources and Equity will review the investigation. In the

case of a faculty or librarian respondent, the Vice-President and Provost will review the case details and coordinate with the VicePresident Human Resources and Equity to determine the appropriate response.

U of T Vice-President and Provost Cheryl Regehr sent an email to students when the policy was released, which informed them of the draft policy and encouraged feedback online. Additionally, the University of Toronto Students’ Union is holding a consultation session on September 19.

Tahmid, from cover

PHOTO COURTESY OF SYED ISHTIAQUE AHMED

The ‘Free Tahmid’ movement has been subject to online harrasement.

“The situation has been incredibly tough to handle,” said Joshua Grondin, a third-year who calls Khan one of his best friends. “Knowing him personally and closely, I can be 100% confident in his innocence, and I will do absolutely everything in my power to make the world know it as well.”

Rusaro Nyinawumwami, another friend of Tahmid, said that she “was devastated at the news of his detainment,” but she has come “to accept the necessary legal processes adopted by Bangladesh, in order to ensure the country’s safety.”

Since the attack, Khan’s story has gained significant global attention. Grondin, also an administrator for a Facebook page called ‘Free Tahmid,’ states that the page’s purpose is “to raise awareness of the situation and create a support group for people most impacted by the situation.”

Over the past two months, there has been an overwhelming response on the ‘Free Tahmid’ Facebook page and Nyinawumwami is optimistic that the “garnered support [can] assist in ensuring his safe return.”

The attention has not been all positive. Weeks after the attack, a video was released showing Khan holding a gun alongside an alleged attacker, prompting a wave of people to accuse Khan of being a terrorist on social media.

“Our main objective has been to share articles that have been released since the event occurred.” Grondin explained, “We found that many of these people sharing negative opinions were simply unaware of particular, important aspects of the case.”

Such sentiments were echoed by Nyinawumwami, who said, “We have countered the hateful comments with facts and character statements about Tahmid. We

do not necessarily want to ‘feed the troll’, however we do our best to educate others by providing links to pertinent articles further explaining his unfortunate circumstance and advocating for his innocence.”

Some hostages anonymously recounted what they witnessed the night of the attack. According to Guernica, an American magazine, one “hostage confirmed previous reports that the gunmen had forced Khan to hold an unloaded gun during the night… the purpose [appeared] to have been to use Khan as a human shield.”

One witness claimed that “Tahmid was crying when the gunmen asked him to carry a gun.” The New York Times has also reported similar remarks from other witnesses.

In the continuous attempt to prove Khan’s innocence, Khan’s supporters sent still photos of him holding the gun to body language expert India Ford. During Ford’s analysis, she concluded, “It is very clear from the still photographs that Tahmid’s body language can’t be matched with that of the attacker… The body does not lie. In my opinion, Tahmid is an innocent victim of a dangerous incident… His only crime was to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Grondin stated that he believes they “have been so successful in advocating on his behalf because he had such a profound impact on so many people” and calls Khan “by far one of the most caring people you could ever meet.”

“He is a part of our U of T community,” said Nyinawumwami. “He is truly one of our own.”

“Tahmid, we’re keeping you in our thoughts and fighting for your safe return,” she added.

6 • THE VARSITY • NEWS

news@thevarsity.ca

UTSU releases March elections report Recommendations include elimination of paper ballots, accessibility concerns, demerit points reform

The UTSU has discontinued the use of paper ballots. JENNA LIAO/THE VARSITY Cole Currie Varsity Contributor

Following the March 2016 elections for the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU), the union has released the report from the Chief Returning Officer (CRO), which includes recommendations surrounding polling stations and demerit points.

The number of polling stations at UTSG was reduced from seven to four, and from three to two at UTM for the most recent election.

The CRO also found that no voters requested the use of accessibility software or hardware during the three-day voting period.

While the CRO did not have concrete numbers, the report states the liberal estimate that only 1.4 per cent of voters casting ballots utilized polling stations, which translates to only 60–70 people across both UTSG and UTM. A portion of the report reads: “The CRO understands the value that polling stations add to an election. Not only do they potentially raise awareness of the UTSU Elections and Referenda Committee [ERC], but also, offer access to members who may not feel confident using an online voting system.”

Despite this, the CRO ultimately recommended that the UTSU eliminate polling stations altogether, citing that each day, two poll clerks are stationed for 10.5 hours per polling station.

The CRO also criticized the pay discrepancy between poll clerks working at UTM and UTSG. Across the two campuses there were six polling stations with a total of 331.5 working hours spent at the stations during the Spring Elections. UTSG poll clerks were paid $11.25 an hour, while UTM poll clerks were paid a rate of $13 per hour. The poll clerks were cumulatively paid $4,821 during the elections.

When asked about the possibility of eliminating polling stations in future elections, Ryan Gomes, Vice-President of the Professional Faculties and Chair of the Elections & Referenda Committee, told The Varsity,“The UTSU is going to continue to utilize polling

stations for the time being, with physical polling stations being offered on two of the three voting days. There are serious and important accessibility concerns that convinced the ERC to continue utilizing polling stations.” Gomes also stated that he is sure discussion regarding polling stations will arise in the future.

Students for Barrier-Free Access (SBA) expressed concerns over accessibility for the upcoming UTSU Fall by-election. SBA told The Varsity,“The elimination of paper ballots, at this upcoming by-election increases the barriers to access for many students with disabilities. These access barriers could lead to the disenfranchisement of UTSU members and undermine the democratic process.”

There was only one paper ballot cast during the Spring Elections, which turned out to be spoiled. The remaining students who voted at the polling stations used online kiosks set up at the locations.

“The UTSU will not be utilizing paper ballots in the upcoming Fall by-election, although we will still be providing polling stations in addition to online voting,” said Gomes. “We have consulted with SBA before making this decision and are satisfied with this setup.”

While the ERC has deemed paper ballots to be unnecessary, they will still attempt to provide private rooms for voters who need them and computerized voting will be fully accessible to all with appropriate software installed on all computers used for the election.

The CRO recommended that the UTSU entrench demerit points in the union’s Charter for Referenda and suggested that demerit points not be determined each election period, but rather have a set system for each election.

“Reforming the demerit point system would be a long term goal for the ERC. I personally wouldn’t envision this as changing from ad hoc to something else, but I would instead suggest that the limits on some of the offenses could be revised, as well as investigating the addition or removal of offenses,” said Gomes. “We don’t have anything official planned yet but I anticipate the topic will be discussed again during the fall term.”

U of T ranked second nationally in QS World University Rankings 2016 McGill ranked top school in Canada for second year in a row Kaitlyn Simpson Associate News Editor

The University of Toronto has been ranked second in Canada by the QS World University Rankings behind McGill University, which placed first for the second year in a row.

The last time U of T was ranked first in Canada was in QS’s 2014–2015 report.

Internationally, U of T placed thirty-second — two ranks higher than last year — while McGill placed thirtieth, nine ranks lower than their previous ranking. In addition to U of T and McGill, the University of British Columbia and the University of Alberta also placed within the top 100 ranked schools.

The highest ranked school in the world was the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, receiving an overall score of 100.

The QS World University Rankings use six

different indicators to determine the ranking of a school: Academic Reputation, Employer Reputation, Student-to-Faculty Ratio, Citations per Faculty, International Faculty Ratio, and International Student Ratio. Each indicator has a different percentage weight to calculate the rank.

Using these six indicators, QS World University Rankings rates the performance of a school based on four general characteristics: research, teaching, employability, and internationalization.

While U of T received higher scores in Academic Reputation, Faculty-to-Student ratio, and International Faculty Ratio, McGill outscored U of T in the other categories, including the Citations per Faculty section by over 13 points.

SCSU sells on-campus Hero Burger Franchise Restaurant to continue operations under new owner

The Hero Buger at UTSC Student Centre opened in 2012. MAISHA ISLAM/THE VARSITY Emaan Thaver Associate News Editor

The Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU) is selling the Hero Burger franchise located in the UTSC Student Centre.

The popular burger joint was initially brought in to diversify the food options available at UTSC in April 2012, but struggled to “generate profit in the years since opening,” according to SCSU documents.

Yasmin Rajabi, Vice-President of Operations at the SCSU, told The Varsity that operating the restaurant was beginning to require “a substantial amount of human resources from myself and our staff members that detracted from our mandate as a student union.”

The SCSU Board of Directors voted to sell Hero Burger to an interested franchise owner for a minimum of $50,000 at a board meet-

ing on June 30. The bill of sale is awaiting finalization.

Hero Burger was one of several food franchises owned and operated by the students’ union, including KFC and Taco Bell.

In 2011, former President of the SCSU, Pagalavan Thavarajah, explained to The Varsity that the franchises operated under a subsidiary corporation called SCSU Restaurants Inc. The dividends from food sales would then be passed through to the SCSU to fund student groups and organizations.

The not-for-profit students’ union, which represents the interests of over 10,000 UTSC students, has not yet discussed the other SCSU-owned outlets in the centre.

Burger-lovers at UTSC need not worry — according to SCSU Vice President of Operations Yasmin Rajabi, Hero Burger will continue to operate under a new owner.

ADVERTISEMENTS

SEPTEMBER 12, 2016 • 7

8 • THE VARSITY • NEWS

news@thevarsity.ca

Student Commons, from cover Mabury told The Varsity that these aspects of the agreement were supported by the union during discussions with the university.

“We’ll ensure that the building itself functions as it should be doing, but there were a number of things that the students wanted to manage of their own and we were inclined to approve that desire,” he said.

In addition, the UTSU is also required to pay a $200,000 yearly licensing fee for 25 years.

“Something like that is essentially a surcharge on top of rent and what we’re already paying for the use of the space,” said Memmel.

“There’s no service that is provided by the university... for the $200,000 annually.”

Mabury justified the licensing fee and explained that the fee is standard practice for all third-parties occupying a building on campus: “The university owns the ground, the university owns the building, but it’s common to expect some form of license fee for accessing the property. It reflects the fact that it’s not an academic function building going in there.”

Mabury also noted that the fee was noninflationary and is similar to the agreement the university has with University of Toronto Schools, the independent secondary school that occupies the university’s property on 371 Bloor Street West.

Memmel feels that the union had not done adequate financial planning for this project in previous years: “Essentially, the real incompatibility for us is, to our knowledge, no one has actually sat down and crunched the numbers when it comes to the NASM costs, which the UTSU pays for, as well as the services that we have to provide.”

Memmel continued, “No one has sat down until now to really determine, is this possible and feasible? From our perspective, we’re kind of left with reverse engineering what has been done or not done and then also, we’re stuck with decisions that people have been without having enough information or education to make those decisions.”

Mabury stated that he has never heard of concerns during his discussions with the union. “It’s just more of getting it right,” he said. “How much does the referendum allow, how to make sure we design a building with the architects that meets the space needs for the students to serve as a resource for students at the University of Toronto.”

Managing a deficit Anticipating that the money from the Student Commons operational levy alone would not be enough to keep the building afloat, a number of UTSU administrations had discussed the idea of generating profit from food services, but did not have a concrete business plan for the building, according to Memmel.

“If we proceed with the current plan, the Student Commons will post a deficit of approximately $300,000 in its first year of operation,” reads a portion of Memmel’s July executive report.

Memmel expressed doubts about the profitability of running food services: “And now we’re left trying to see, does that actually work and make sense? Basically the bottom line is, no, food services can’t actually cover — the building’s cost cannot rest on food services to offset them” Before Memmel took office, the union

began to work with Kaizen, a food consulting agency that has worked on the campus previously. The union has also reached out to Anne Macdonald, Director of Ancillary Services at U of T, and Vice-Provost Students Sandy Welsh for advice.

Mabury recognized that there may be challenges in a business plan for the Student Commons: “That’s not surprising to me in any kind of planning and strategizing about what is wanted in the Student Commons. I would expect those to evolve and become more firm and specific as the date of occupancy gets near and they will iterate to what’s actually deliverable based on the resources they have at hand.”

Memmel also explained that previous UTSU administrations had anticipated small deficits in the initial years of operation of the Student Commons and had set aside $50,000 of the UTSU’s operating budget each year to eventually go towards the operation of the building once it opened. These cash reserves were not officially earmarked to go towards the projects. “It’s one of the things that we’ve sorted out this year is that we’ll actually have cash reserves and we’ll start setting things aside that are for reserves and not for, you know, the money leaf blower,” he said.

Because these cash reserves were not properly differentiated with the rest of the union’s money, they were spent on “a number of unexpected expenses,” according to Memmel.

“Obviously, we feel that some of those are unjustified and unsuitable and we’re hoping to reclaim some of those funds.”

The UTSU is currently in litigation against its former Executive Director, Sandra Hudson.

The union alleges that in April 2015, Hudson was improperly issued a severance payment totalling nearly a quarter of a million dollars.

“Money that could’ve been used to offset the cost of the Student Commons’s first few years of operation was spent of severance and the end of April 2015,” said Memmel.

The Future The move-in time for Student Commons is Fall 2017, at which point, the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design will move into One Spadina Crescent. The union has struck a Student Commons working group comprising of Memmel, President Jasmine Denike, and Executive Director Tka Pinnock.

Memmel called the state of the Student Commons “a dumpster fire, but one that we’re putting out.” He added that the union plans to continue working with Kaizen and is looking into partnering with “existing facilities and catering operations in the cities, even with the university.”

“Really, the goal is by the end of first semester, we have our operating business plan in place and we know what we have to do to make that building viable,” Memmel continued. “Second semester is basically preparing the organization as a whole to move into that space.”

Mabury expressed optimism for the union’s plans for the building. “The students have been very strategic and smart,” he said.

“They are investing in very wisely, I think, in design elements and mechanical systems that are highly efficient that will make that building cheaper to operate going forward than it has been in the past.”

U of T, CUPE indicate all former Aramark food workers offered jobs University takeover of UTSG food services occurred August 1 Cathlin Sullivan Varsity Staff

With the university takeover of food services from Aramark occurring at UTSG on August 1, the university and CUPE have indicated that all former Aramark employees have been offered employment with the university.

“All Aramark employees were offered a new job with the university at a substantively higher rate of pay with a pension plan and benefits that they did not have before and the ability for them and their children to attend U of T for free,” said Sarah Jordison from CUPE Communications.

While employed by Aramark, hourly wages for most food services workers ranged between $12.00 to $12.80. The university offered food services workers wages at $20.29 an hour, with benefits such as a tuition waiver for employees and dependents.

In May and June, supporters and active members of UNITE HERE Local 75 — the union that previously represented food services workers at UTSG — voiced concerns over whether all workers would be rehired by the university, the status of the seniority of the workers, and the 90-day probationary period. The union organized protests and a week-long hunger strike.

Following U of T’s takeover, food services workers are represented by CUPE 3261.

Representatives from U of T had one-onone conversations with all former Aramark employees in order to establish what their duties at work were and the hours they worked.

“We tried not to change people’s lives too much so we met with them all individually,” said Anne Macdonald, Director of Ancillary Services. “We tried to stick with that but at the same time we are doing things differently, so there will be changes.”

Macdonald noted that most of these changes will occur in the type of work that people are doing. According to MacDonald, cooks can expect to be using different, more fresh, ingredients than they did when employed by Aramark.

Macdonald also told The Varsity that there were six or seven employees out of 250 food services workers who did not want to work for U of T; the university did not meet with these individuals.

“It’s not like it was a brand new venture to do this all ourselves, there’s some experience with respect to, certainly the things that count… cooking, the ability to cook and the ability to plan menus and to procure food,” Macdonald added, noting that University College and Chestnut Residence already control their own food services.

NATHAN CHAN/THE VARSITY

UNITE HERE Local 75 protesting U of T’s takeover of food services in June.

Comment

September 12, 2016 var.st/comment comment@thevarsity.ca

P

ublic and media outcry spread worldwide in response to the 'burkini ban' that has been occurring in Europe, most notably across various regions of France. Such public response began when armed police officers asked a woman to remove her burkini at the beach — an incident which was captured on video and subsequently went viral.

For those not familiar, the 'burkini' is a modest form of swimwear designed to cover most of the body. It was created to target a growing market of Muslim women who wish to enjoy swimming in public but not at the expense of their cultural beliefs, thereby offering an alternative to mainstream swimwear.

The concerns in response to the ban — which, when enforced, forbids women from wearing burkinis in public — have culminated in a legal challenge. In fact, France’s highest court has overturned the ban, leading to popular resort cities such as Nice and Cannes following suit with their own bans on the garment. The UN Human Rights Council went so far as to call the ban "highly discriminatory" and a "stupid reaction" that only feeds religious intolerance. The council went on to "urge all remaining local authorities which have adopted similar bans to repeal them immediately."

Nevertheless, nationalist sentiments against the burkini have persisted — and it is these nationalist sentiments that arguably led to the ban in the first place. French authorities defended imposing such a ban by invoking popular sentiments regarding French cultural identity. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls went so far as to exclaim: “Marianne has a naked breast because she is feeding the people! She is not veiled, because she is free! That is the republic!” The 'Marianne' he invokes refers to the allegorical depiction of a woman donning the Phrygian cap, a symbol of the French Revolution.

The French Prime Minister insinuates French identity is better realized by women who bare all in public and not by women who are veiled. The premise for this argument is based on the misguided assumption that the practice of veiling is demeaning and oppressive to women. He has received backlash for his support of local bans and his comments praising Marianne’s bare breasts from the public, scholars, and even members of his own government.

Perhaps ironically, the setting for the now infamous video scene of police officers forcing a woman to disrobe is in Nice at the Promenade des Anglais — the same site at which the truck attack occurred on Bastille Day this year, during a holiday dedicated to celebrating the French Revolution.

Considering the state of European politics and overall public sentiments in response to increasing numbers of immigrants and refugees, it is clear that the ban is not an isolated incident. France is particularly keen on assimilating immigrants into its culture. In 2010, France was the first European country to publicly ban full-faced veils. Before that in 2004, the country enacted a law forbidding the wearing of religious emblems in educational settings.

In addition, the rise of far-right parties is evident in French politics, and many of these parties have come to power by preying on the public’s fear. In the last regional election in France — which took place in December of 2015 shortly after the Paris attacks that November — the Front National (FN) led by Marine Le Pen made significant showings in the first round, topping national polls with around 28 per cent support.

This forced a coalition amongst the other parties, who resorted to strategic voting to

An immodest proposal

Growing nationalist sentiments caused the burkini ban; confrontation is essential to finding a resolution Luke Jeagal Varsity Contributor

ensure the FN’s defeat. In contrast, when Le Pen visited Québec, she was met with hostility from both the public and politicians.

It is clear that the ban has sparked debate.

Yet, while sentiments echoing support or distaste for the ban are reverberating around the world, a particular group of voices is being drowned out of the conversation: the voices of the women themselves.

This is unfortunate considering how much significance the burkini holds for many Muslim women. Aheda Zanetti, the burkini's creator, told Politico that “the burkini did wonders for Muslim women and girls. It created confidence to get active.”

Other women also expressed feelings of liberation. In an op-ed for The Guardian, Zanetti expressed the exuberant deliverance of her own experience: “It was my first time swimming in public and it was absolutely beautiful. I remember the feeling so clearly.

I felt freedom, I felt empowerment, I felt like I owned the pool.”

If France is indeed concerned with the freedom and equality of its female citizens, its government ought to encourage attires like the burkini; they are small but innovative ways to ensure that all women can participate equally in public life and recreational activities, without sacrificing the values that are significant to them.

Certainly, the core of the problem lies deeper than the burkini, as Muslim women living in Europe are describing a struggle for acceptance and peace in their daily lives. Since the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, many feel as though anti-Muslim bias has intensified, describing “dirty looks and threatening remarks,” as reported by The New York Times.

On the surface, protests of the ban have taken various forms. TIME reported that support from non-Muslim groups translated into a growth in burkini sales. Skin cancer survivors represent a significant portion of the burkini’s supporters. Would a melanoma patient be asked to remove their swimwear in order to enforce the burkini ban, or are such tactics limited only to women who are Muslim? From a civil liberty standpoint, no government should ever dictate what its citizens can or cannot wear.

It is easy to point fingers and claim that the French are being hypocrites, yet hostility towards immigrants is clearly not a phenomenon that is confined to France. Some may see the influx of immigrants as a threat to the way of life they have established at home.

To draw a parallel, Donald Trump proposes policies in the United States that include building a wall to keep Mexicans out and patrolling Muslim neighbourhoods.

Closer to home, in British Columbia, a foreign buyer’s tax was introduced in response to growing resentment against wealthy Chinese buyers inflating the housing market.

There is no easy solution to cross-cultural prejudice — banning religious or cultural symbols and demonizing entire groups of the population will only inflame the issue.

What we need instead is dialogue and understanding.

Therefore, we must go beyond simply criticizing the flawed logic behind an ideology or policy like the burkini ban, and instead, take steps towards coherently communicating our differences, in the aim of resolving such conflicts in a productive manner.

Luke Jeagal is a third-year student at University College studying Physiology and Political Science.

CORALS ZHENG/THE VARSITY

10 • THE VARSITY • COMMENT

comment@thevarsity.ca

International students should be allowed to stay Why the suspension of the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program will bring nothing but trouble for international graduates and Ontarians Maryam Rahimi Shahmirzadi Varsity Contributor

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP), which previously allowed International Students to gain Permanent Residency (PR) upon completion of their Masters or PhD degrees, was ended on May 9, 2016. This decision occurred so that changes focusing on specific deficiencies within the labour market may be made to the immigration program. As such, Ontario has refrained from accepting applications through OINP. Although there are other means through which international students can obtain residency in Ontario, the suspension of the OINP has underlying negative implications not only for the students, but for universities and the Ontario government as well.

It is no secret that Ontario universities make considerable amounts of money from international student tuition. Tuition fees for international students can be almost five times what domestic students are required to pay, and yet the government is making their path to residency measurably more difficult.

Aspiring university students from around the world, who might have planned to pursue higher education at Ontario’s top-tier universities, will lose some incentive to apply, as they will see fewer prospects of building a future career in the province, due to the more limited immigration options after graduation.

The significance of the OINP was that it offered international students a sense of se-

curity, as they always had the option of staying in the place where they had spent years studying and networking.

Now that this option has been taken away, universities ought not be surprised if applications from international students decrease, especially if the government decides to permanently cancel the program. Consequently, lower international student enrolment could mean less revenue for the university. This in turn might lower the quality of education for all students, given that there are fewer resources to work with.

The OINP, which streamlined educated immigrants into one shared pool of applicants, made the pathway to becoming a permanent resident faster. With the program suspended, longer wait times and gnawing feelings of uncertainty will discourage international graduates from seeking residency in Ontario.

Making the immigration process difficult for skilled applicants might hurt the economy as Canada's population growth slows. According to Immigration Minister John McCallum, Canada has to significantly increase immigration, if it wants to keep up with the country’s labour shortages and its aging population.

In a speech to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines last month, McCallum stated that, in order to "make it easier for international students, [the government would] reduce some of the barriers in our immigration system."

As an example of such a mentality and in an attempt to attract more high-skilled work-

ers, Canada is presently seeking to double its visa offices in China, which will make it easier for Chinese students and workers to travel to Canada.

It is perplexing why the government would choose not to prioritize the needs of international students who have made an investment in Canada, having already spent a considerable amount of time and money in Canadian universities.

The collective expertise of international graduates, if not tapped into by the provincial government, is easily transferable to other provinces or even other countries. In this vein, the suspension of the program is an opportunity wasted. It is exemplary of Ontario missing its chance to capitalize on the graduates’ full potential.

Evidently, Ontario’s decision to suspend the OINP is questionable, especially at a time when Canada is in need of skilled workers.

The long-term consequences of the suspension, particularly if the program is not reopened, are still to come.

Yet most immediately, it is the international students who suffer greatly — not only are they required to pay hefty fees, but they find their options limited once they complete their education. Demonstrating respect for international students and graduates is vital, considering the investments they have made.

Maryam Rahimi Shahmirzadi is a third-year student at St. Michael's College studying Political Science and International Relations.

The suspension of the OINP puts many international graduates in hot water.

SANDY MA/THE VARSITY

Is ink indecent?

Considering their cultural and social significance, tattoos should be regarded in a more positive light Ayesha Tak Varsity Contributor

In The Berg Companion to Fashion, Valerie Steele defines the 'tattoo' as “a permanent or semi-permanent body modification that transforms the skin.” According to Steele, the word tattoo comes from the Tahitian word 'tautau', meaning “to mark something.” The practice of tattooing involves puncturing the skin and depositing pigments, like ink, to create permanent patterns and designs.

A Harris Poll from 2016 indicates that about three in 10 Americans have at least one tattoo, and tattoos have reached high levels of visibility within media and popular culture.

Even though perceptions are evolving, tattoos are still associated with unfounded negative stereotypes. For many, tattoos are marks of rebellion and are often associated with antisociality, criminal deviance, and even savagery.

This is unfortunate and misguided because tattoos are rooted in a rich cultural history that makes them meaningful both to the wearer and to members of their culture. Tattoos are far from new phenomena, and in order to break down the stereotypes surrounding them, we must look to their historical roots.

Steele writes that the earliest evidence of tattoos we have is Ötzi, a Stone Age mummy whose body was tattooed; these markings may have been tied to medicine, spirituality, or social status.

In different places around the world, tattoos also developed varying significance depending on the context. In the nineteenth century, for instance, British sailors returned from their exploits decorated with tattoos.

The popularity of tattoos grew so immense that there was a tattoo artist at almost every British port. The tattoo designs that adorned the sailors’ bodies were often symbols of their courage and ties to their home country, which is significant considering their often lengthy and dangerous journeys at sea.

Tattoos could even signify royalty; in 1862, to commemorate his journey to Jerusalem, Prince Edward of Wales had a holy cross tattooed onto his arm.

When considering earlier historical records of tattoos, it is clear they were pervasive and celebrated by members of both the lowerclass and the upper-class. In fact, according to Theresa M. Winge’s book Body Style, most of our negative associations with tattoos have roots in the later part of the twentieth century.

At this time, body modification exploded in subcultures such as motorcycle gangs, street gangs, and punks — all of which were associated with deviance.

Those who paint tattoos in a negative light often recall these groups and consequently make assumptions about tattoo wearers. Yet, this narrow view of tattooing overlooks the nuance associated with the practice, both culturally and socially. It is a sliver of tattoo history that is blown out of proportion, considering the robustness of said history.

Furthermore, it is true that tattoos represent group solidarity — they act as markers of members belonging to a subculture or group, and they are often considered more meaningful than piercings or hairstyles. This is due to their permanence, which can symbolize the loyalty a member has to their group. The idea of using tattoos to signify solidarity not only applies to deviants, but also to family, friends, and other intimate social groups that choose to get tattooed as a symbol of their bond.

Tattoos can also be a marker of individuality. Seen this way, tattooing is an accessible form of self-expression; one that is certainly not limited to the subcultures often depicted in association with it.

What is most concerning is that negative stereotypes of tattoos are often tied to preexisting prejudices and assumptions about marginalized groups.

North American subcultures, such as the Modern Primitives, often romanticize and exoticize the tattoos of non-Western cultures, namely the Polynesians. Indeed, the co-opting of cultural markers into individual fashion statements is a recurring theme in fashion, not unique to tattoos.

Prejudices towards certain groups — whether they are members of a native tribe or individuals in a motorcycle gang — are pervasive, and negative perceptions of tattoos often reflect these underlying problems. It is these harmful ideas that ought to be attacked head on, in the hopes of treating others in a more compassionate and open-minded manner, regardless of our differences. Meanwhile, tattoos as markers of this individuality should be celebrated for the art form that they are.

Ayesha Tak is a fourth-year student at UTM studying Statistics and Sociology.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2016 • 11

var.st/comment

Give back what's been stolen Melania Trump's plagiarism is part of a larger pattern of injustice Avneet Sharma Varsity Contributor

DIANA PHAM/THE VARSITY

Imagine you’re the child of immigrant parents at the University of Toronto and part of the first generation of your family to attend a North American university.

Working on your upcoming essay on The Catcher in the Rye, you come up with the argument that Holden Caulfield’s red hunting cap represents his unresolved grief for his brother Allie. You ask a white classmate named Becky to proofread your essay. Later, Becky turns in an essay containing the red hunting cap argument almost verbatim, with a few minor changes in wording.

Becky committed an academic offence on a major assignment. Should Becky deny that she plagiarized, she would be required to attend a Tribunal hearing, which has the same gravitas as a legal trial. If Becky is found guilty of the offence, she will face sanctions, which may include a grade of zero on the project, as well as the potential for suspension. It is therefore understandably frustrating when, instead, Becky receives an A on her assignment and is applauded by the instructor for her creative thinking and strong work ethic.

The Becky scenario is analogous to many other instances in which white individuals have stolen ideas from people of colour. Recently, this happened to Michelle Obama when Melania Trump took passages from her address at the 2008 Democratic National Convention and proceeded to present them as her own at the Republican National Convention eight years later.

Jarrett Hill, a freelance journalist, was one of the first on Twitter to note the similarities between the two speeches at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Hill particularly remembered the quote, “the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them,” which Trump borrowed heavily, only replacing “reach” with “strength.”

Numerous news outlets have dissected Trump’s speech and have presented an overwhelming amount

of evidence that it was plagiarized.

Though they may seem like unrelated incidents at first glance, Becky's and Trump’s actions fall in line with systemic, racialized patterns of theft of ideas that stretch beyond modern times. White people have been robbing people of colour of their due credit for centuries; consider the British stealing tea from China or the appropriation of Indian culture and Hinduism in various colour runs, such as Run or Dye™ or Color Me Rad™.

The robbery of ideas erases the contributions people of colour have made to society and ignores the customs and traditions of cultures that are considered to be far removed from Western society. The mentality that causes white people to forcefully take ‘ownership’ over the ideas, customs, and belongings of people of colour has led to actions so flagrant as European colonizers stealing land from Indigenous peoples, all under the premise that anything that can be conquered automatically belongs to the conqueror.

In the case of Trump, Hill brought up an interesting point about the scandal. “If you are a Republican, you cannot be friends with a Democrat, let alone agree with them or give them praise, right?” he said. “The Trump campaign would never want to quote Michelle Obama.”

This highlights the tendency to refuse to give credit to those who are the true owners of ideas that are stolen, on the part of Trump and others in her position.

The Trump campaign has actually denied the fact that the incident constituted plagiarism, despite evidence to the contrary. Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s campaign manager, responded to the allegations of plagiarism by saying that there was “no cribbing of Michelle Obama's speech,” but that “these were common words and values.”

To further Manafort’s thoughts about “common words,” the Republican National Committee Chief Strategist Sean Spicer added that the same ideas ex-

pressed by Obama and Trump were also expressed by Twilight Sparkle, a character on My Little Pony, who said, “This is your dream. Anything you can do in your dreams, you can do now.” This was apparently an attempt to defend Trump’s actions, arguing that none of the words she had used in her speech really belonged to anyone.

The “common words” argument is faulty because it completely overlooks the context in which ideas are generated and spread. For Becky, it would be difficult to believe that the similarity of ideas was merely coincidental, given the close circumstances of the shared classroom setting. For Trump, the wife of a prominent politician, feigning ignorance to the similarities between her speech and the speech of the First Lady — especially given the frequency in which Donald Trump criticizes the Obamas and their administration — is unforgivable.

Perhaps this is the most problematic aspect of Trump’s speech: her utilization of Obama’s words are meant to advance an extremely separate agenda.

Where Obama advocates for racial and gender equality, the Trump campaign is built on the oppression of people of colour, through racist comments in speeches, as well as the proposal of destructive antiimmigration policies. The significance of the use of Obama’s words to further a xenophobic agenda cannot be overlooked.

It is clear that the Trump incident is not an isolated occurrence — it is just a particularly notorious instance of the pervasive, if subtle, oppression of racialized voices. Considering this, we ought to be mindful of its implications in broader context.

Avneet Sharma is a second-year student at Trinity College studying English and Book and Media Studies.

Take time to enjoy the semester — don’t let autumn become synonymous with anxiety.

You don’t have to fail A slipping frosh regains her grip “You won’t get good grades.”

“Your mark will drop by at least 10% for sure.”

“You won’t sleep.”

“You’ll get fat.”

An enthusiastic, sporty, eager-to-try-everything me entered university with dreams of wild success and a mind that would not stop thinking. So what if I wanted to cure cancer as an undergrad? Maybe there were others who also secretly enjoyed solving trig identities while their peers moaned and complained.

Unfortunately, I also came to university with excuses that would allow the introvert me to stay within the high walls I had caged it in, stampeding over my first-year bucket list, confining me to the 9 x 12 feet enclosure I called my room. Stacks of textbooks lined the walls, papers with complicated words and diagrams covered the carpet, and a mess of school supplies and clothes were piled up where my bed used to be. I took my blessed four-hour midnight naps on whatever empty surface I could find in that enclosure.

That was my first year. It certainly did not have to be mine, but it was. I thought it was normal. It was what made me feel included.

Wherever I went, people talked of disappointing first-year academic experiences. I entered my first term of university fully determined to go beyond what everyone else was doing. I failed.

In high school, tests were a habit. I studied, took the test, got my grade, and moved on. In university, I entered my first CHM110 midterm knowing I would fail. I loved chemistry, but as I talked to upper years, they told me that the professor would fail everyone.

So I thought, what is the point of trying? Two days before the test, I started studying. With my feet on my table and pen between my teeth, I opened my notes. My first lecture notes screamed, “MEMORIZE

THE FIRST 30 FREAKIN’ ELEMENTS.” So I did.

I memorized the periodic table, practiced lecture examples, yelled at anyone who entered my room, and drank three cans of pop. On Monday morning, I showed up outside the exam building with a doubledouble in one hand, while the other made a clenched fist.

I sat down between the guy who always had his hand up in class and the girl who knew everything. I opened the test paper and saw — to my relief — the empty set of blocks in which I had to fill in elements.

I flipped the page to another question and I blanked out. I continued flipping to the end of the booklet and raised my hands to my temples. I knew nothing.

I turned back to page one.

Elements? The first is hydrogen. Nitrogen comes before oxygen. Does it? Wait. But then, where’s boron? My mind forgot it ever knew chemistry, and I scribbled down whatever related words that I could muster. I barely passed.

Test two, they said, would kill everyone. I couldn’t afford that. If test one had me crying, this next one would surely mean a failed course. I refused to believe it. I practiced problem after problem and posted even my most senseless questions on the online office hours website. I bugged my TA until I was satisfied and pestered my friends for help with insane solutions.

I ended up as one of the only three students who received a higher than their first test.

Below average marks and an almost-failed test taught me to become persistent. I used my dusty textbooks, went to help sessions, and took advice from my instructors. Eventually, I completed first year with my name on the Dean’s Honour List.

I wish upper-years had welcomed me into their little world as a bright individual rather than just another doomed soul. A horrible first year was not my story.

It doesn’t have to be anyone’s.

— Amna Azhar

COMPOSITE ILLUSTRATION BY NATHAN CHAN, ELHAM

It’s okay to not be okay A sleepless student remembers to take life one step at a time 4:00 am. Classes were going to start in a few hours.

Dejected, I threw my books down and tried to catch some sleep.

Stress was taking over my life. I did not know if I wanted to live. Driven by self-disappointment, I was facing a massive disparity between my own expectations and what I felt I could do. There was a wall in front of me: the bricks were self-doubt and an evergrowing workload; the mortar was the dissonance between my abilities and my goals. It seemed that I could never climb over this monstrosity. I started to question if I really belonged among the amazing peers and friends surrounding me.

Desperate for help and understanding, I reached out to someone and opened up to him. He guided me to find the right people, and they concluded that I needed professional help to get through some of my problems. I was finding it difficult to agree with this conclusion. I felt I would just be blaming myself for everything I was feeling, when I remembered something a dear friend had told me during one of my breakdowns.

“It’s okay to not be okay.”

Rewind to the start of my first year. I had just met Sean, who would become my closest friend. We bonded over the advice he gave me when I was at emotional and mental all-time lows.

He told me that I am only accountable to myself.

The most important thing, he said, was to take care of myself. There are no ready-made cures for emotional and mental wellness like there are for physical ailments. I had to use the resources around me to make sure that I could get the care I needed and still need.

Even with the resources around the city and on campus, it was difficult. I was definitely never okay at any point. Sometimes I was close to it, but just shy of the mark. This gave rise to more stress — how could I possibly live up to any of my goals if I could

With the fall term starting, eager frosh are preparing for the university experience to turn their lives upside down. The Varsity presents the final segment of its summer series of personal essays, written by seasoned upper years on everything they never expected to learn.

M NUMAN, VANESSA WANG

never be at peace with who I was?

“It’s okay to not be okay.”

One night, I told a stressed friend that she needed to step back from everything she felt obligated to do.

I felt that it was indeed okay for her to just feel the stressful, tense emotions and understand that one day it does get better. As long as we can look forward in our lives for even one second, we will be okay.

In her moment of struggle, I saw that it was important for her to understand that she was already amazing just as she was. Regardless of how my friend felt internally, she was still someone I looked up to and cherished. If I felt that way about my friend, then surely my friends would feel that way about me. In fact, my best friends were telling me this all the time. I just never believed them.

I realized that I was on the brink of something.

The wall I faced at the time was a mirror, and it had enraptured me. The mirror was grungy and cracked, and it showed a distorted perspective of myself.

Instead of trying to fix the image the mirror gave me, I had to realize the mirror was just that — a perspective. As a result, I had to be okay with not being okay. The troubled turmoil in my mind and heart would pass one day.

The mirror is replaceable. It can be cleaned, fixed, and even made wholly new. Of course, it takes time — to make a new way of looking at ourselves, we need to let ourselves change. I am still learning how to grow and develop. I have learned that I need to accept that right now; I can be not okay with who I am. This mirror will change, and I will drive that change.

As long as I can take just one more step, I am at peace with myself — with all the good and bad that comprises me. I will keep living my life, using the resources around me to make peace with myself. I do not have to be perfect.

Knowing this, I put down my books and peacefully head to bed. I am ready to face tomorrow, because I have the strength to tackle whatever lies ahead.

— Doyun Kim

Run past your fear With the help of a new hobby and Frank Ocean, a guy fights imposter syndrome I got serious about running last December. I had just gone through a not-so-great breakup and was dealing with the de rigueur exam season stress. I needed an outlet to relieve myself of that negative energy.

Fortunately, running was one of the healthier forms of self-medication. I once read that either you’re running to get away from something or you’re lying to yourself; I’ve yet to see much evidence otherwise.

It worked, as much as anything can for that sort of coping, but more importantly — it stuck. Over time, the split times became less embarrassing and the distances became more respectable, until one day, I woke up with a set of unspeakable callouses and strong opinions on the midfoot strike.

Of course, nothing really changed. I run until I’m too tired to keep running. I hope the next time I go a little bit faster or farther than the last time. If I don’t, I get worried that I’ve hit a plateau and it’s all a gradual decline from there — that I’m not the special and unique snowflake I’m occasionally delusional enough to believe I might be. It doesn’t matter how far I’ve gone because there is always a voice in the back of my head wondering why I haven’t gone further.

There is a goal, however, at least in the roughest sense of the term. It’s not why you leave the house, but it’s the reason you keep going. It’s reaching the point where your legs feel like they’re disintegrating, your body has decided your other muscles need that last microgram of glucose more than your brain does, and your mind sputters and coasts like an old car.

Whatever still-functioning synapses remain cease to impose rational thought on the world, and suddenly it’s just you, everything else, and unyielding momentum moving into pure, beautiful oblivion. It is fleeting and certainly not worth the effort in any rational sense, but if your brain is wired a certain way, there is nothing better.

I have been listening to a lot of Frank Ocean’s album Blonde lately. It’s about, among other things, relationships, non-relationships, expectations, and how we

respond to them.

I keep coming back to how Frank discusses authenticity. The song “Nikes” uses the idea of counterfeit shoes to critique materialism and the idea of being ‘real.’ “Solo (Reprise)” is a staggering, reeling verse from André 3000 about his disillusionment with fame, as he finds himself surrounded by more and more inauthenticity. “Be Yourself” is a voicemail left by a childhood friend’s mother for her son before he went off to college, repeating the idea of not trying to be like someone else.

Authenticity is a weird concept. Who goes through four years of university without changing? Who would want to? However, the line between faking it and real change is elusive, and the thought of someone outing you as a fraud is terrifying. I wasn’t a runner, and now I guess I am, unless I’m in the same room as someone who cranks out ultra-marathons or puts up ninetieth percentile times. I have a pile of Nike running gear and I am 70–30 on whether it makes me look like I know what I’m doing or like I’m a complete tool.

Finding your place is difficult at the best of times, and having 40,000-odd undergrads with a reputation for being weirdly cold and competitive surrounding you ain’t exactly ideal.

It took a long time for me to learn this, but you will struggle at times and fail at others, just like everyone else, and that is fine. Take chances, go against your default, follow peculiar suggestions — put yourself out there, and it will be scary until some day it is not, or at least less so.

I don’t mean to give the impression that I have figured my life out, that I’ve solved university or life with this ‘one weird trick’. There are still plenty of days when I’m filled with self-doubt. Yet, if you put in the effort, eventually there will be a payoff.

Run until you are too tired to keep going, and the voice in your head will wonder why you didn’t go further, until eventually, you do. Find something that makes your heart stop and your brain misfire, and keep chasing it.

— Steve Hale

Arts&Culture

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE September 12, 2016 var.st/arts arts@thevarsity.ca

YouTube opens new Toronto Space: var.st/youtubespace

Where art meets activism

AGO First Thursdays teams up with Manifesto for Constituency

Gabrielle Warren Associate Arts & Culture Editor

Constituency, part of First Thursdays, sought to provide a platform for emerging artists.

T

First Thursdays seeks to "create a specific place for young people".

PHOTOS: GABRIELLE WARREN/THE VARSITY

he Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) has had a long history of community activism throughout the years, and their AGO First Thursdays event series is no exception. The events have curated aspects of Toronto culture and seeks to introduce emerging artists to Toronto’s art scene.

The series began five years ago under the leadership of Andrew Tettlbaum, the art director at the time. It was founded with a desire to create a specific space for young people at the gallery.

Speaking to The Varsity, Sean O'Neil, the founding programmer of First Thursdays, explained that they are late night celebrations of art and culture in the community.

They feature social environments with DJs, drinks, and special installations by local and emerging artists, while performances and special commissions are made available throughout the gallery.

The events align with the gallery’s commitment to the cultural and social justice landscape of Toronto. “If the AGO is doing its job, it should be leading conversation about the role of art and culture in our lives. We are the largest art museum in Toronto and really the largest civic art museum and what that means is that we have a responsibility to display art by great artists and extraordinary art,” said O’Neil.

According to O’Neil, there are two special goals for the events. The first is “bringing in people who are under 35, who are part of the cultural landscape of the city, but didn’t see a place for themselves," while the second is to provide “opportunities to find platforms for local and emerging artists.

People who have not built entire careers to be on the AGO floor for six months, but who we think are still interesting and engaging, and want to create a connection with and give a platform to.”

First Thursdays has hosted talks that have featured notable artists including Theaster Gates and Hurvin Anderson.

Talks like these reflect their ability to integrate social initiatives in the city with art movements from both the past and present. A notable example is the "Basquiat" exhibit last year, which was dispayed in partnership with the Toronto chapter of Black Lives Matter.

The AGO is also launching a program called Creative Minds on September 20. O’Neil notes: “It’s going to be an event that will happen twice a year for artists from four disciplines to come and discuss different social issues. The first one is on the topic of social justice... particularly, the role artists can play in shaping, bringing forward, and creating

change around the issues of social justice.”

The theme of social justice is not new to the AGO. It has been almost ten years since the AGO began collaborating with Manifesto Festival of Community & Culture. Since 2007, Manifesto has operated with a mandate to provide a platform for under-exposed artists throughout the city. Street art, spoken word, and alternative art forms have been included in their programming.

The collaboration between the AGO and Manifesto represents the efforts that have been made over the years to join traditional art institutions with movements that historically have been barred from the conventional artistic narrative.

This year the festival is celebrating its tenth anniversary and is running from September 9–18. It will include art shows, showcases, and concerts across the city.

On September 1 — the tenth anniversary of Manifesto — the AGO held an evening dedicated to community builders and activists. The event, called Constituency, featured "Theaster Gates: How to Build a House Museum," an exhibit celebrating Black creativity and freedom. The evening was packed with performances and talks from members of Manifesto and included artist MYKKI BLANCO and feminist collective Boner Kill.

It was exciting and lively, with music, food, and interactive activities making for a memorable night. Patrons milled around the museum with anticipation of what they would see next.

When asked why they decided to attend First Thursdays, the responses reflected the legacy of the event. One patron exclaimed, “I had heard about it for the last few years and I had never been before and I was like why not? It’s an evening out in the city, I can go with my friends, it’s something different.”

Not only did the event bring people together, it also functioned as an intersection of social awareness and artistic expression. When asked about the impact of Manifesto on Toronto’s art scene, Ashley Mckenzie-Barnes, the Visual Director of Manifesto, explained: “I see it as a catalyst for your street and urban artist and bringing them into a space like the AGO… and getting local and international artists on the same level as them.”

Both the AGO and Manifesto have important legacies that contribute to Toronto’s artistic mosaic. First Thursdays is an example of this as an introduction to art for the younger generation.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2016 • 15

var.st/arts

The guide to campus coffee You can thank us later Sabrina Ramroop Varsity Contributor

School is back, which means it’s time to switch gears and get into study mode. Between early morning classes, messy commutes, and latenight study sessions, some of us turn to coffee to conquer the day. These seven shops are great for people looking for phenomenal coffee and a cool atmosphere.

Sorry Coffee Co. (102 Bloor Street West) Sorry Coffee Co. is tucked away in Yorkville. This aestheticallypleasing shop is great if you’re in dire need of a pick-me-up or a fresh Insta pic. While small, they have seats available and outlets to charge electronics. One thing that makes Sorry Coffee Co. snazzy is its unique cups; the shop likes to change the logo on them every so often.

Another great thing about Sorry Coffee Co. is their location. Located inside of a Kit and Ace clothing store, it's a great location to take a break and browse around. Whether you’re grabbing a quick coffee or looking to sit down and get some work done, Sorry Coffee Co. is worth the visit.

The Coffee Lab (333 Bloor Street West) The Coffee Lab is another hidden gem. Located within Willow Books, The Coffee Lab is the smallest coffee shop in Canada at just 52 square feet. This works to its benefit as the unusually small size offers a unique experience.

Joshua Campos, the owner of the store, explains that he imports coffee from different regions and gives customers their choice of beans. Campos has created a science-themed aesthetic, storing beans in test tubes and distributing drinks in beakers. This coffee shop is perfect for those who want to grab a coffee and lounge around. If you bring your T-Card, you even get a student discount.

Voodoo Child (388 College Street) Voodoo Child is a great go-to for students that have some time to stray from campus. Located at College and Bathurst, it is equipped with power outlets, Wi-Fi, and a wide selection of espresso-based drinks.

It also offers bagels with your typical butter or cream cheese; if you have more of a sweet tooth, it has Nutella or peanut butter. Interestingly, Voodoo Child is a café during the day and a bar in the evening. Every so often they host live music. With amazing coffee and cool cup designs, Voodoo Child has something for everyone.

Almond Butterfly (100 Harbord Street) Located at Spadina and Harbord, Almond Butterfly is a short walk away from campus, making it the perfect spot to pop into during hour-long breaks between classes. It has

PHOTOS: SABRINA RAMROOP AND NATHAN CHAN

Growing up with The Tragically Hip A personal reflection on Canada’s iconic band

recently transitioned to its fall menu; the seasonal drinks are a must-try. The entire menu is gluten-free, including cupcakes and cookies.

Almond Butterfly is also recommended for those who do not have a huge coffee crave.

Their tea selection is lengthy and features teas that are both herbal and caffeinated. Small and cozy, the shop is stocked with delicious treats to snack on while studying.

Diabolos’ Coffee Bar (Junior Common Room, University College, 15 King's College Circle) Diabolos’ Coffee Bar is centrally located on UTSG for those looking to grab a drink on their way to class. This coffee shop can be difficult to find but is definitely worth the hunt. Located on the east side of the Junior Common Room of UC, Diabolos serves hand-crafted beverages making it great for anyone hanging out around King's College Circle.

Note that Diabolos is currently closed for renovation until further notice. This makes the visit even more worthwhile.

Café Reznikoff (75 St. George Street) Café Reznikoff is a great place to spend time during gaps between classes.

Located on UTSG inside UC's Morrison Hall, Café Reznikoff is a U of T classic. Its convenient location allows students to quickly grab a coffee, but if you are looking to sit down and get some work done, the small seating area tends to fill up quickly.

Café Reznikoff is also perfect for those looking to snack while working. It’s loaded with a large food menu that ranges from chips and chocolate to hot meals.

Ned’s Café (150 Charles Street West) Ned’s Café is an all-time favourite. It is relatively new and replaced the Wymilwood Café. It sells Balzac's coffee for less than $2.00, which is nothing short of remarkable. Pairing a cup with one of their delicious pastries is always a good idea. If the muffins don’t satisfy your hunger, the other food options will. Ned’s Café has a list of hot food items and healthy pre-packaged food such as salads and sandwiches.

The space is spectacular for students. Ned’s has a large, bright space with a lot of seating available that comes prepared with outlets.

One reason why this place is such a hit is that it is located right in Victoria College’s Cat Eye, a student-run lounge and pub, making it great for hanging out, studying, or both.

Gord Downie, lead singer of The Tragically Hip. THE TRAGICALLY HIP/CC FLICKR Jacob Lorinc Managing Online Editor

Unlike most music I listen to, I couldn’t possibly say when or where I first heard The Tragically Hip. Which is strange, because I remember when I first heard Arcade Fire during eighth grade in my backyard, while trying to skateboard despite my notoriously poor balance; or The Arkells at an overnight summer camp in the ninth grade, while eating a very culturally appropriated Chinese stir fry; and pretty much any other musical ensemble that I’ve come to consider a favourite.

Canadians appear to share this problem widely. Many of us grew up with The Tragically Hip, but few can pinpoint when we first acknowledged the band’s presence. The Hip were always around, whether we intended to hear them or not — on CBC radio, in our parents’ CD collection, or in local concert venues.

They recorded prolifically and toured regularly. Whenever they performed in Toronto, I would always think, ‘I can go next year, when they inevitably return.’

The winter was peak Hip season for me. As a teenager, I spent the colder months playing pick-up hockey at the local rinks in my neighbourhood. Skates and stick in hand, I would walk to the arena, first listening to “New Orleans Is Sinking” and “Three Pistols” — two songs expertly crafted to act as pregame pump-ups — and then “50 Mission Cap” right before I arrived. It’s The Hip’s hockey song — a song about Bill Barilko, former defenseman for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who died on a fishing trip shortly after winning the Stanley Cup. It was no coincidence that my interest in Canadian history peaked around this age. The Hip were meticulous in their chronicling of Canadian history. Early education failed to instill the excitement of our home-and-native-land’s vibrant past in me, but a rock band whose eccentric lead singer Gord Downie sang about the Group of Seven and Québec separatism certainly did.

Playing in a few bands throughout high school, Downie quickly became an inspiration to me and many of my fellow bandmates. His poetry was far better than ours and inspired us to see the value in our immediate surroundings as potential musical subjects. We didn’t have to sing about California; Orillia would work just fine.

He found value in the crevices of Ca-

nadian lore where others failed to look.

Few may have known the small town of Bobcaygeon before Downie deemed it worthy of a song, and few may have remembered the wrongful rape and murder conviction of David Milgaard before the story was archived in “Wheat Kings.” But Downie did, and we’re better for it.

During The Hip’s early years, Downie developed a cult following of sorts. Prairie kids and ‘hockey bros’ would flock to Hip shows donning their team jerseys as coats of arms. Something about Downie, perhaps his upbringing in Kingston or his fondness for the pseudo-national sport, must have struck a chord with them. He never seemed anything like these people, though. Nothing about his lyrics appeared to purposely tap into their culture, and rarely would he address the youthful masses that attended the shows. Instead, he would lose himself in the songs — twitching, dad dancing, and spewing stream-ofconsciousness nonsense like the victim of an exorcism gone wrong.

For many Canadians, Downie is a familiar — if not comforting — presence.

At a time when it appeared as though all Canadian rockstars were the poor man’s Bruce Springsteen or a wannabe Tom Petty, Downie was unabashedly himself, ranting about Killer Whale tanks and double suicides in the shadow of a hit-churning mega-industry down south. He and the band gave Canadians something to be proud of — something to point to when the calibre of our artistic product came into question.

That’s why the late-May announcement of Downie’s diagnosis and the subsequent implication of The Hip’s numbered days felt like an irremediable stab wound in the collective solar plexus. Downie has brain cancer — glioblastoma, to be exact — and there’s no known cure. Ninety per cent of victims live for less than five years upon diagnosis and, in the meantime, are subject to early onset dementia and countless other side-effects.

For the band, it’s an end when there shouldn’t have been an one in sight. For Downie, we can only hope that modern medicine prevails, and that he’ll have the good fortune of surviving despite the odds. It’s a daunting assignment, but as we’ve seen throughout the past few months, it’s one that he’ll undoubtedly approach with will and determination.

And grace, too.

16 • THE VARSITY • ADVERTISEMENTS

arts@thevarsity.ca

TIDELINE

TIDELINE

By Wajdi Mouawad Translated by Shelley Tepperman Directed by Ken Gass

SEPT. 16–OCT. 1, 2016

U OF T’S PERFORMING ARTS LEADER SINCE 1919

2016/2017 HART HOUSE THEATRE SEASON

www.harthousetheatre.ca

Season Sponsors:

SEPTEMBER 12, 2016 • 17

var.st/arts

The Side Piece

Questioning Canadian identity in The Idea of North Lawren Harris’ work reflects disenchantment with city life and a desire for spiritual salvation Anil Partridge Varsity Contributor

What makes Lawren Harris' iconic paintings 'Canadian'? It could be his ethereal depictions of Lake Superior — masterpieces of high modernism — that adorn crowded galleries, inspire glossy postcards, and grace well-appointed living rooms across the nation. But are they ours?

This question surrounds The Idea of North: The Paintings of Lawren Harris, the Art Gallery of Ontario's (AGO) latest exhibition of the artist's paintings, which was curated by American entertainer Steve Martin alongside Cynthia Burlingham, Deputy Director, Curatorial Affairs at the Hammer Museum, and Andrew Hunter, Fredrik S. Eaton Curator of Canadian Art at the AGO. The work of Harris, a Canadian national treasure, started its tour in the United States, where it is largely unknown.

The exhibition tracks the development of the artist's style and subject matter, as it changed from urban landscapes to the sparse mountain vistas and the glaciers that he became renowned for. Harris' early-period paintings of Toronto's impoverished Ward neighbourhood are displayed alongside historical maps of the city, and his well-known Lake Superior paintings. The exhibition highlights Harris' methodology and presents his work as part of Canada's "cultural imagination."

After producing sketches of various natural scenes across different time periods, Harris collated them on canvas to produce landscapes that captured the essence of regions but were not bound to a particular place or time. As they alter between realist and dreamlike, Harris' paintings raise questions about Canadian identity; his work has become an opus dedicated to the North.

Harris' early work shows the postwar-Toronto of the 1920s, a time of great inequality and social unrest. A scion of the wealthy Massey-Harris family of industrialists, Harris was born with the means to pursue art unfettered by financial restrictions. It was this awareness of his position of privilege that shaped the focus of his early subject matter: a struggling urban population beset by low wages and poverty so intolerable that it regularly provoked strikes.

The first images of the exhibition depict the immigrants and working poor who lived in the hardscrabble conditions of the Ward.

Beginning around 1900, Eastern Europeans immigrated to Toronto in record numbers, gravitating toward the Ward. At the time, the neighbourhood was comprised mostly of descendants of fugitive slaves and the children of immigrant railway workers.

The exhibition features paintings of residents wandering through mud streets lined with lean-tos and row houses crumbling under roofs of corrugated iron. Homes open out into squalid alleys, where porch doors with broken springs lie abandoned under a canopy of clotheslines hoisting drab sheets like sodden flags.

A display showing video footage of downtown Toronto around the time that Harris began painting the Ward accompanies the artwork. While watching a clip of a 1920s streetcar, I overhear a girl chuckling, "Probably the same one I took this morning."

The images of the Ward show a walled-in slum, a sort of garrison situated steps away

Did you know?

U of T is home to four federated galleries and several art collections across three campuses, some with pieces dating back as far as 4,000 years.

Tag @TheVarsity with your own #honesttinderprofile

“Mount Thule, Bylot Island” by Lawren Harris. 1930. COURTESY OF THE AGO from what is now City Hall and Queen Street West. The Ward was a ghetto in the predominantly white Toronto of the 1920s. Urban renewal efforts only pushed residents into deeper isolation, as the Ward was gradually erased from view.

Harris saw economic injustice as a basic feature of capitalism. In the wake of World War I, his growing social consciousness was informed by the war's devastation and its burden on the working poor. During wartime, many of these workers toiled in unregulated factories, while others fought on the front line, only to return to unexpected poverty, while their employers bathed in post-war prosperity.

Harris became interested in the spiritual movement of Theosophy while studying art in Europe, after being exposed to Eastern philosophy. Theosophy stresses the possibility of personal revelation through an intuition of God's presence. Driven by the bleak realities of the city and a growing spiritual and political consciousness, Harris sought refuge in nature.

Financing excursions to Lake Superior with artists who would eventually form the Group of Seven, Harris sought what the exhibition describes as a "distant and idealized nature that existed apart from the human condition."

In Lake Superior, he would find a "space of rich renewal," according to Hunter.

Tree stumps bathed in luminescence, twisted strands of branches gesturing out toward clouds swollen with bright white light — these images rupture the air-conditioned sterility of the gallery with a surreal sense of motion and lucidity. From the iconic North Shore to the Lake Superior Hills, the landscapes breathe, ripple, and cascade with living energy.

The question of verisimilitude haunts their promise of transcendence. In the centre of the room is a glass case lined with sheets of brown paper, widely regarded as Harris' best work.

Working with a pencil, Harris sketched out crude skeletons of the landscape, transposing various drawings into one composite that would form the final painting.

The resulting image is not representative of any 'real' place in the North. Rather, it is the reconstruction of multiple elements, fil-

tered through the imagination of the painter.

This raises a question: if his landscapes are the product of his consciousness, what, then, qualifies it as Canadian?

Literary critic and University of Toronto academic Northrop Frye developed a conception of Canada's relationship with the wilderness that helps to explain the appeal of Harris' idealized representations of the North. For Frye, Canada was not a 'frontier culture' like the Wild West of the United States, a distant zone that one entered to strike it rich or court death, or a place of promise and danger that one could visit and return from to the safety of their home. Frye claimed that for Canada, the culture was not one of frontiers but garrisons.

The Canadian dependence on the fur trade meant settlements were organized around garrisons, fortresses that kept trappers warm during unfathomably cold winters. The harshness of the weather forced them indoors, safe from predators and the elements. Nature was kept at a distance.

Though the country was full of danger, it was also full of sublime beauty: the cascades of the Montmorenci and the tranquility of the St. Lawrence River, coaxing travellers deeper inward and swallowing them up like a whale; the awing heights of mountain rock and ice, sprawling like the sleeping giants of Ojibwe folklore. The landscape was so grand that it required a new poetry; the old Romantic model was better suited for the placid English lakes and gardens than the overwhelming darkness of the Canadian winter.

Harris' paintings depict a landscape awesomely beautiful but hardly human. He was moved to re-envision the North because of the hardships he witnessed in the city. His diminished faith in human nature prompted an escapist sojourn into the frigid wilderness, where he could reconstruct nature as he saw fit and create an interpretation of the Canadian North that is partly fantasy.

At the end of the exhibition, words are projected onto a wall underneath the title "Idea of North." One note in a child's handwriting reads: "Is that where Santa lives?"

The exhibition is on now until September 18.

Pro[tein] tip: upgrade your ramen Ramen is the cornerstone of any university student’s diet. When cooking, drop an egg into your pot of cold water.

When it boils, add your noodles. Eggs are inexpensive, nutritious, and give you the energy needed to face the day.

Events: Form Follows Fiction: Art and Artists in Toronto September 6 to December 10 Multiple locations, including: University of Toronto Art Centre, Hart House, University College TIFF Festival Street September 8–11 Multiple locations, including: Simcoe Street, King Street West, Emily Street Toronto Beer Week September 10–24 Multiple locations, including: Muskoka Brewery, WVRST, Mill St. Brewery AGO Creative Minds September 20 Massey Hall Tweet of the week:

Science

September 12, 2016 var.st/science science@thevarsity.ca

Alcohol: potential public health crisis A student’s perspective on the cost of alcohol abuse on society and public health DANNY PLAS/CC FLICKR

Elizabeth Benner Varsity Contributor

It’s Friday night and you’re sitting out on the patio with friends at a Toronto pub. The string of overhead lights swings gently in the warm evening breeze. You shift forward in your seat as the server sets down a frosty glass on the cardboard coaster resting on the table. Reaching forward, you grab the glass and bring it to your lips, savouring the cool taste of your drink.

If I asked what you ordered, you’d probably say some form of alcohol; and you’re not alone. Approximately 80–90 per cent of Canadians drink alcoholic beverages regularly.

A new study from the New Zealand’s University of Otago may make some Canadians opt for a different drink next time.

The study published by Professor Jennie Connor concluded that any level of alcohol consumption has been tied to the development of seven different kinds of cancer. Despite the flurry of news articles scrambling to cover the story, this information is not new.

Although alcohol has been linked to cancer in the past, the study admits that miscommunication between scientists and the media, the quality of evidence, and sources of bias in past studies have misled the public with previous stories. One example of this is how red wine is commonly rumoured to prevent heart disease.

“At this point there is no study which basically would deny the role of alcohol on those cancers,” says Jurgen Rehm, Epidemiology Professor with U of T’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. “That’s one of the few things that the alcohol industry accepts these days.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) has also recommended that governments should attempt to decrease unhealthy levels of alcohol consumption, because alcohol can also lead to chronic health problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and lung disease.

The recommendations are known as ‘best buys’: cost-effective, feasible changes that include tax increases, restricted access to

retailed alcohol, and bans on alcohol advertising.

While alcohol is harmful to individuals, it serves an important role for governments worldwide. Forty-four cents of every beer sold in Canada goes to the government through taxes, totalling $5.8 billion in annual tax revenues that is allocated to all tiers of government.

Across the pond, England pulls in £36.8 billion annually from beer sales, prompting the argument that alcohol sales could be beneficial for society. But a closer look at the statistics shows that there is a disproportionate number of people who account for that revenue. Of the £36.8 billion, 69 per cent is generated by only 20 per cent of the population — those who are considered harmful or chronic drinkers.

Alcohol costs England’s National Health Service £3.5 billion, with more than one million alcohol-related hospital visits in 2013– 2014.

Rehm adds, “You have to decrease drinking among those people who are dependent.”

So, how do we go about trying to bring about change for the better? In some instances, we already have. In British Columbia, minimum pricing — a form of taxation increase — has been implemented, making it harder for chronic drinkers to stock up on cheap alcohol.

Canada has also enacted several driving laws within the Liquor License Act, requiring zero blood alcohol levels in new drivers and banning open alcohol in vehicles.

When dealing with alcohol consumption, it’s not ideal to reimplement prohibition. Instead, policymakers should focus on informing and educating drinkers on the dangers of alcohol, so they can regulate their own consumption.

The WHO has stressed that “beyond health consequences, the harmful use of alcohol brings significant social and economic losses to individuals and society at large.” Bringing this information into the spotlight will hopefully increase the attention to this issue and begin to work towards a solution which will benefit all.

The ancestor of modern life revealed?

Researchers recreate the physiology of the Last Universal Common Ancestor Alastair McNamara Varsity Contributor

New light may have been shed on one of the most mysterious parts of the tree of life. The Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) is a hypothetical single-celled species from which all of modern life is descended. If it ever existed, it lived approximately four billion years ago. Its physiology is a mystery, and its habitat has long been debated by experts.

In July, a team of researchers led by William F. Martin of Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, Germany, attempted to uncover LUCA’s identity. In their paper published in Nature Microbiology, they describe using DNA samples from a wide variety of modern species to construct a crude model of LUCA’s genetic blueprint.

The tree of life is divided into three main branches or ‘domains’. They are the singlecelled domains of bacteria and archaea and a younger sub-branch called eukaryota, which includes multicellular organisms like animals, plants, and fungi. LUCA sits near the very base of the tree of life, at the point

where the first two branches meet. To get a look at this evolutionary intersection, the team traced backward.

Martin’s team analyzed over 6.1 million DNA sequences from thousands of primitive singlecelled organisms, grouping together similar genes. Common traits are often a sign of relatedness, although genetic transfers can happen between unrelated species. This can make the tree of life difficult to piece together. To be considered, each group of genes required a wide distribution of representatives in both bacteria and archaea, as well as signs of its progress throughout the tree of life. Genes that appeared in unexpected places were eliminated from the study. In the end, the team could comfortably attribute 355 gene groups to a common ancestor, offering a glimpse at its nature.

According to the results, LUCA could assemble its own food substances, including sugars, fats, and proteins. Many of these proteins required a high quantity of iron, sulphur, and other metals. LUCA possessed the protein reverse gyrase, which protected its DNA from extremely high heat. It depended on hydrogen gas, nitrogen gas, and carbon dioxide for its respiration.

At the time when LUCA would have lived, its only available sources of hydrogen gas were geological. Hydrothermal vents — volcanic cracks along the ocean floor — produce it in high quantities. They also spew molten metal into the ocean floor — enough for LUCA to assemble its proteins. Only the hardiest of organisms can survive this sort of environment, and the presence of reverse gyrase suggests that LUCA may have been one of these organisms. Taking all of this into account, it seems possible that LUCA — and maybe even the earliest life forms — lived in hydrothermal vents.

Does this provide a definitive portrait of LUCA? Perhaps not. Microbiology expert and University of Toronto alumna Dr. Laura Hug describes the paper as “more a thought experiment than a truly conclusive study.” She also notes, “It is an interesting approach, but the suite of genomes used is composed only of relatively well-known and well-characterized groups, which limits the strength of the conclusions reached.”

To Hug, the study’s biggest weakness is its failure to consider ‘candidate phyla’. Candidate phyla are groups of single-celled organisms that have yet to be properly cultured and stored by scientists. Their existences are only known through the wide genetic analysis of environmental samples. Despite never having been officially discovered, many of their

genes have been sequenced, covering “a wide swathe of the known diversity on the tree of life.” Failing to use “the most complete dataset available” is “problematic,” according to Hug. “Many of the candidate phyla are highly divergent, and have unique metabolic features.

Their inclusion might overturn some of the features of the model LUCA presented in this paper, or add new features,” explains Hug. The researchers themselves acknowledge the uncertainty of their results. Several of the 355 gene groups code for oxygen-specific metabolic processes, even though oxygen gas was not abundant in Earth’s atmosphere during LUCA’s time. The paper addresses this discrepancy by suggesting that these genes were transferred between unrelated sections of the tree of life, and they proliferated as atmospheric oxygen rose, mimicking an evolutionary descent from LUCA. Ultimately, according to Hug, the study is stronger at “narrowing the potential metabolic functions” of LUCA than it is at proving that “any pathway or gene is ancestral to all life on Earth.”

None of this negates the scientific value of the study. Hug notes, “The origin of life on earth and the characteristics of LUCA are of significant interest… and I think [the paper] is a valuable contribution from that perspective.”

SEPTEMBER 12, 2016 • 19

var.st/science

Largest Science Literacy Week yet returns this month

A week-long, nation-wide celebration of Canadian science

Science Literacy Week Events Family Funday: Brilliant Science The Royal Ontario Museum celebrates science with a mobile glass studio, sugar art, and more!

September 17–18, 11:00 am to 4:00 pm Royal Ontario Museum 100 Queens Park Future Food Fair: Pueblo Science Interactive Demo U of T start-up Pueblo Science has teamed up with Gerstein library for this molecular gastronomy themed event. It features four demonstrations and opportunities for taste testing.

ELHAM NUMAN/THE VARSITY

Hannah Fung Associate Science Editor

From a young age, University of Toronto alumnus Jesse Hildebrand was captivated by science. Now, as the founder of Science Literacy Week, he has the opportunity to showcase the best of Canadian science in a week-long celebration.

Hildebrand said, “Science is everywhere — if you made a cellphone call, used the internet, saw a doctor or any number of things today, you’d be doing something made possible by science,” said Hildebrand. “Similarly, an awful lot of the biggest issues of the day revolve around science — climate change, vaccinations, [genetically modified organisms], nuclear

energy, driverless cars — I could go on.”

As a result, there is a growing need for scientifically-literate people; those who are able to dissect and evaluate the scientific claims made in the media and elsewhere.

Science Literacy Week began in 2014 as a way to encourage libraries to highlight their science collections. Hildebrand explained, “Libraries have always been hubs for learning. From being repositories of great books for millennia… to today, where they also serve as internet hubs and outstanding event venues. People of all kinds also go to libraries, making them more accessible than university lectures or the like simply as a result of them reaching a larger demographic.”

What began as a Toronto-based event

has grown into a nation-wide campaign, with over 300 events in 40 cities across Canada. This year, support from Indigo Books and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada has allowed Hildebrand to reach out to more people. The week has seen 25 per cent growth in the past year.

“Having the biggest bookseller and biggest science funding organization in Canada involved help[ed] highlight that the event is here to stay and that it is important,” said Hildebrand.

Science Literacy Week has partnered with over 140 organizations to bring us the best of Canadian science.

email us at science@thevarsity.ca

September 19, 12:00–2:00 pm Gerstein Science Information Centre Alice Moulton Room (second floor) 7 King’s College Circle SciChat Talk: Harnessing the Power of CRISPR – A Novel Tool for Cut & Paste Genome editing has become a reality with the development of CRISPR/Cas. Find out how it works and how it’s being applied to disease research with Nichole Escalante, a PhD candidate in Immunology at the University of Toronto.

September 21, 5:00–6:00 pm Gerstein Science Information Centre Alice Moulton Room (second floor) 7 King’s College Circle From Euclid to Einstein: Milestones in the History of Science Touch and hold some of the most iconic science books of all time — from U of T’s very own rare book library.

September 22, 4:00–7:00 pm Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library 120 St. George Street

2016 Schedule

Nerd Nite Toronto: The Final Season Engage with the latest in evolutionary biology and art! The event features two presentations: 1.

Thursday September 22: 4pm – 9pm* Friday September 23: 10am – 8pm Saturday September 24: 11am – 6pm Sunday September 25: 11am – 6pm Monday September 26: 10am – 8pm *(First Night only: Admission $4, Students FREE with I.D.)

in OLD VIC 91 Charles Street West (Museum Subway Exit) For more information call 416-585-4585 www.vicbooksale.utoronto.ca vic.booksale@utoronto.ca

Proceeds to Victoria University Library

2.

WRITE FOR

SCIENCE

“Convergent Evolution and the Guy with a Botfly in his Scrotum” by Dan Riskin, evolutionary biologist and cohost of Daily Planet “The Stray Shopping Cart Identification System” by Julian Montague, artist, graphic designer and author

September 22, 7:00 pm Tranzac Club 292 Brunswick Avenue Additional information can be found at scienceliteracy.ca and under the hashtag #scilit2016.

20 • THE VARSITY • SCIENCE

science@thevarsity.ca

Tackling a big disease with a small solution U of T researchers develop anti-cancer ‘modular’ nanosystem COURTESY OF VAHEED RAEESI

Farah Badr Varsity Contributor

In the near future, chemotherapy is expected to move from the ‘body flooding’ approach currently adopted, towards a more controlled and localized delivery.

Many of the current cancer chemotherapeutics work through mechanisms that do not differentiate between cancerous and healthy cells, resulting in the common adverse side effects associated with prolonged chemotherapy. For that reason, cancer therapy researchers are redirecting their efforts toward finding more sophisticated alternatives to administer chemotherapeutics instead of the classic ‘pill and syringe’ techniques.

The field of nanotechnology has received a fair share of attention over recent years due to the therapeutic potential it holds in terms of localized delivery of cancer drugs. Scientists have confidently shown that ultra-small particles or nanoparticles of various metals and synthetic material can be employed as vessels for cancer drugs.

The human body, however, is a

hostile place for foreign substances.

The synthetic nature of nanoparticles is not well received by the body’s immune system, nor is it compatible with the way that the body removes waste material, making nanoparticles toxic in their crude form.

Dr. Warren Chan from the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering at U of T; recent PhD graduate Dr. Vahid Raeesi; and Dr. Leo Chou from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have made a huge stride towards finding an effective nanotechnologybased approach for localized delivery of cancer drugs. Their technology does so while simultaneously overcoming the body’s immune rejection mechanisms and reducing toxicity.

The novel design was the coming together of a number of previous findings from the Chan lab and other labs in the field. This cancer-targeted structure can be described as a ‘modular nanosystem,’ with ‘modular’ referring to its multi-components, and ‘nanosystem’ reflecting that is on the order of a nanometre or a millionth of a millimetre.

At the core of this intricate struc-

ture is a nanorod, an oblong structure made of gold, dubbed by Raeesi as a “nano heat generator” due to its ability to generate heat when struck by light of a certain energy. This core is orbited by a number of spherical gold nanoparticles or satellites docked onto the nanorod using threads of DNA, commonly used by biological engineers as an adhesive due to its great flexibility and potential for precise design, as Raeesi explained.

DNA exists in nature as two strands or thread-like structures bound together along their length. This gives DNA the ability to firmly sandwich certain chemicals between the strands. Subjecting it to high temperatures results in the immediate separation of the strands. For that reason, the research team cleverly proceeded to soak the DNA strands used in the nanostructure with common cancer drugs like Doxorubicin.

As soon as the nanostructure is delivered into the heart of the tumour through the blood supply, infrared light, which is able to harmlessly penetrate the human body, can be shone at the tumour. This results in heat ra-

diating from the gold nanorod, which in turn splits the DNA strands and — like a Trojan horse — releases the cancer-killing molecule. The core-emitted heat also doubles as a controlled way to damage the nearby cancer cells to provide an additive effect, leaving distant healthy cells unharmed.

Raeesi emphasized the importance of the nanoparticles’ size, dictating it as necessary for the particles to be able to pass through the pore in the walls of the blood vessels feeding the tumours.

Previous nanoparticle designs of larger sizes led them to get stuck in the vicinity of the tumour and eventually pushed back into the bloodstream, reducing the amount of the drug that makes it to the tumour.

Additionally, the modular, multiunit nature of this novel nanosystem means that after finishing the job, the now disconnected parts can be easily removed from the body, a feature that is missing from earlier, singleunit designs.

A primary feature of the nanosystem is that the orbiting satellites are covered by a layer of a plastic-like substance or polymer known as poly-

ethylene glycol. Although technically synthetic in nature, this substance was curiously found to interfere with white blood cells, the components responsible for the attack of foreign substances, helping the nanoparticles to escape the body’s immune system.

But why not put the protective polymers right on the nanorod? It all comes to ‘bioaccumulation,’ or as Raeesi describes it, the percentage of particles that make it into the tumour.

Putting the polymers on the spheres results in higher degree of surface coverage that cannot be achieved by putting the polymer directly on the nanorod core. This in turn provides a better disguise against the body’s immunity and a higher chance of an uninterrupted journey to the tumour.

Raeesi hopes that his research along with others’ will pave the way to refining the system towards targeting metastasized and deeply embedded tumours, as well as developing systems with tumour-imaging properties.

Turning back the clock on greenhouse gas emissions U of T research team develops more efficient way to convert atmospheric carbon dioxide into fuel precursors Alexander Gomes Varsity Contributor

ELHAM NUMAN/THE VARSITY

Most efforts to turn back the seemingly incessant onslaught of climate change emphasize the importance of eliminating carbon dioxide emissions. But with the Global Carbon Budget estimating that annual carbon dioxide emissions have grown by over three billion tonnes in 2015, it is clear that current emission-combative strategies are failing. A new study published by a University of Toronto research group may be the beginning of a solution.

Published by Nature in August, the study led by Professor Ted Sargent of the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences focused on a method for efficiently breaking down carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide, a precursor to many fuels.

Using nanoengineering, the group developed a more efficient method of removing oxygen atoms from CO₂ via electrochemistry.

Previously, this reaction involved electrons travelling through a salt water bath containing dissolved CO₂.

The electrons transferred their energy to the CO₂ molecules, giving them the energy needed to break their bonds.

The oxygen atom freed from the molecule will attach itself to two hydrogen atoms to create water, while the

remaining carbon and oxygen atom form carbon monoxide.

This process is established, but is also impressively inefficient due to CO₂ not being very water-soluble.

Instead, Sargent’s team tried using gold nanoneedles as a catalyst to run the electrons through. Each needle is about 10,000 times smaller than a human hair.

Phil De Luna, a PhD student in the group, explains that the choice to use gold was integral to the increase in efficiency because “gold is one of the only metals which has a strong affinity for carbon dioxide, which is necessary for the reaction.” Both silver and copper can also act as catalysts but not to an equivalent level of efficiency.

The electrical current running through the catalyst generates an electrical field, drawing surrounding CO₂ molecules to the needles’ tips. This gathering of molecules allows for a much more concentrated distribution, greatly increasing the CO₂’s exposure to the electrical energy and, in turn, the number of conversions to CO. The group established a full order of magnitude with higher current density than the best previously existing gold rods or nanoparticles, generating 22 milliamps per square centimetre.

This increase means a substantial elevation of efficiency, an important

aspect when one considers the potential use of renewable energy sources powering these reactions. Sources of energy like solar generate low voltages, inciting a need for lower energy requirements.

This breakthrough, in tandem with the developing field of Carbon Capture Systems, will hopefully provide a systematic way of breaking down CO₂ before it ever reaches the atmosphere. Carbon Capture Systems are designed to capture CO₂ emissions and then store them, either deep underground or within specially designed chambers.

Storage, however, is an expensive and resource-heavy process that creates little incentive for the implementation of Carbon Capture Systems,

which can be noted in the fact that only 0.01 per cent of CO₂ emissions were captured in 2015.

With a more efficient reaction like the one created by Sargent’s group, carbon capture could become more industrious, potentially producing “fuels such as methane and ethanol, as well as high value chemical feedstocks such as ethylene, a plastics precursor,” according to De Luna.

“Our technology will allow for this captured CO₂ to be put to use and recycled into fuels for energy storage or chemical feedstocks for the manufacturing industry.”

Next up for Sargent’s group? De Luna says they have their sights set on developing more complex and productive hydrocarbons so that

CO₂ conversion can impact greater change: “Our ultimate goal is to create a catalyst which can be scaled up and commercialized for the conversion of CO₂. We see our work as having great impact in the developing world with rising standards of living and where the burning of fossil fuels will remain the cheapest form of energy generation.”

This study was partially the product of a $1 million grant from the University of Toronto’s Connaught Global Challenge fund, which allowed for the creation of a multidisciplinary team tasked with developing new bio-inspired energy conversion techniques. The group drew on expertise from across the University of Toronto, including the Department of Chemistry’s Professor Eugenia Kumacheva, the Faculty of Pharmacy’s Professor Shana Kelley, and the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering’s Professor David Sinton. De Luna believes that “the grand challenges of today are not confined to a certain discipline anymore. Many problems require multiple backgrounds and expertise.”

In a world full of increasingly rising tides and melting polar caps, such an intersection of fields and experiences is invaluable in creating encompassing solutions to complex and mutating crises.

Sports

September 12, 2016 var.st/sports sports@thevarsity.ca

A disgracefully long tradition 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneels to protest racial inequality in the US Daniel Samuel Varsity Contributor

Colin Kaepernick has become a media icon, merely by remaining seated when some would expect him to stand. He has received both admiration and condemnation for staying seated during the American national anthem. Kaepernick said, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”

Kaepernick, San Fransisco 49ers quarterback, would not have been slated to become one of the most prominent sports figures playing today. He has earned his newfound public stature not because of his on-the-field play; instead it is because of his willingness to address the issues of police brutality and racial inequality, key social problems plaguing the United States.

Kaepernick’s method of protest displays an almost poetic political acumen: by deciding not to stand while the flag is raised, he uses the nation’s most important symbol of freedom to highlight the lack of freedom African-Americans experience everyday.

Initially, Kaepernick’s kneeling was viewed by many as distasteful and insulting to veterans. Fellow NFL players Drew Brees and Victor Cruz both condemned his actions.

Brees “wholeheartedly” disagreed with Kaepernick’s method, referring to the American flag as “sacred.” However, these reactions do not tell the whole story of the reception of Kaepernick’s actions. In response to Kaepernick’s protest and the backlash against it, the social media hashtag #VeteransForKapernick was created. Those

Colin Kaepernick lines up a pass. AUSTIN KIRK/CC FLICKR using the hashtag displayed that, in fact, many veterans agreed with his sentiment and did not find his protest disrespectful.

Political protests by athletes are not new to the US. For instance, Muhammad Ali caused political uproar by refusing to fight in the Vietnam War. Tommie Smith and John Carlos, members of the Olympic Project for Human Rights, raised black-gloved fists on the podium at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City as the American national anthem played to protest, among other things, racial segregation in the US. Presently, national attention in the US to the problem of police brutality have prompted other athletes to stand up and protest.

NBA stars Carmelo Anthony, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Paul together stood on stage at the ESPYs to give a speech, not only about the racial problems in the US, but also about the role athletes should play in activist endeavours.

Kaepernick is not alone in his choice of protest. His teammate Eric Reid joined him in kneeling prior to the 49ers final preseason game, and Seattle Seahawks cornerback Jeremy Lane also participated in the protest before his game against the Oakland Raiders.

US soccer star Megan Rapinoe was unafraid of backlash when she knelt before Sunday night’s Seattle Reign game in support of Kaepernick. Rapinoe’s insight on Kaepernick’s

protest spoke volumes as she used her own experience to empathize with Kaepernick’s message, saying, “Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties.”

The public outrage at Kaepernick’s protest is inconsistent with the affection the nation showed Muhammed Ali following his death.

Perhaps it is easier to venerate the past than honour the present.

Kaepernick isn’t an athlete with the natural ability of Ali, Smith, or Carlos, but he is a person who is willing to speak out on an issue of our time, and we should listen.

So You Think You Know Sports?

Let’s see Tony Hawk do this Ameena Youssef Varsity Contributor

The world of sport is far more diverse than what you see offered at sports bars.

This series will profile the lesser-known, the more interesting, and the downright peculiar sports that you haven’t heard of until now.

ALICE JARRE/CC FLICKR

Rollerblade freestyle slalom is a creative mix of technique and tricks.

Imagine lacing up your old rollerblades, throwing on your favourite song, and then finding the flashiest, most intricate way to move through a series of obstacles. Rollerblade freestyle slalom is a fusion of musicality, flourishes, two-wheeled technical tricks, speed, dance, and showmanship.

When inline skating is mentioned, most people wouldn’t imagine a hard-core, physically-demanding, extremely technical sport. Yet, rollerblade freestyle slalom is an intense and highly complex form of skating, which has athletes performing tricks and dance-like maneuvers around a set of cones. These cones are placed in a straight line 50, 80, or 120 centimetres apart, depending on the event.

Rollerblade freestyle slalom athletes tend

to wear any form of comfortable clothing that allows them to move, bend, and stretch easily. The most important piece of gear athletes wear while competing is the skate itself. Slalom performers who choose to use regular inline skates modify them to better satisfy their needs during performances.

Most rollerblade freestyle slalom athletes will perform on slalom inline skates, which differ from regular inline skates in a few ways. Slalom skates are made using carbon or glass fiber, which makes them stronger and firmer for better ankle support, all the while being lightweight and providing athletes with a comfortable fit.

Slalom skates also feature shorter wheel frames so that maneuvering in them is easier. Slalom skaters tend to try to fit as many big wheels onto their frames as possible — the number varying based on foot size and frame length.

Slalom skates also have ‘rocker effect’ wheel set-ups. This means that the first and last wheels on the frame are actually higher up off the ground than the middle two.

This allows for easier ability to perform the tricks and dance-like moves freestyle skat-

ers are known for.

During competitions, athletes are scored on difficulty, variety, continuity, speed, and rhythm. They are also scored based on their artistic abilities, body performance, musical expression, and choreography. Skating competitions consist of all or some of the following categories: Classic Freestyle Slalom, Pair Freestyle Slalom, Speed Slalom, Battle Freestyle Slalom, and Freestyle Slides. Athletes can participate as solo performers or in groups, in as many events as they want.

The top five scores for freestyle competitions; the top four for speed competitions; and the top three for slides are used to calculate the world rankings.

Freestyle athletes compete in local and national competitions. The winners from each country move on and compete in the world championships, which were held in Paris this year. No matter your gender, age, or ethnicity, everyone competes together.

Although the sport is not yet in the Olympics, it still brings people together from all over the globe.

22 • THE VARSITY • SPORTS

sports@thevarsity.ca

Men’s rugby faces early defeat Varsity Blues endure strenuous first game

Varsity Blues rugby team fights for possesion during Wednesday’s game. SEAN SMITH/THE VARSITY Ariel Gomes Senior Copy Editor

The sun was blazing hot at Varsity Stadium during the University of Toronto’s Varsity Blues men’s rugby team’s season opener against Wilfred Laurier University’s Golden Hawks on September 7. The home team didn’t shine as brightly though, ending up with a tough 24–38 loss.

During the first 19 minutes of play in front of a small crowd of spectators, the Golden Hawks scooped up three quick tries and conversions thanks to swift passing and

dodging, starting-off the game with an early 0–19 lead.

Following a water break, U of T got itself on the scoreboard with a try by third-year Jack Davidson and a successful conversion by first-year Mati Gordon, bringing the score to 7–19.

After Laurier stole possession during a line-out, the Varsity Blues fought back, gaining their second Davidson-driven try and Gordon-kicked conversion, making it a onetry game.

With the ball changing hands multiple times before half-time, the Golden Hawks

OPIRG-Toronto: 2016-2017 OPT- OUT Notice University of Toronto full-time and part-time graduate students*, as well as full-time and part-Time undergraduate students who have paid the Ontario Public Interest Research Group – Toronto fees and wish to opt-out of OPIRG-Toronto are able to claim their fees refund with proof of enrollment for the 2016-2017 academic year.

Please bring your UofT student ID and proof of enrolment to the OPIRG Office in the North Borden Building at 563 Spadina Crescent, Room 101 during the following period: Thursday, September 8 to Wednesday, September 28 inclusive.

Our office will be open Monday to Friday from 11AM to 7PM during the opt-out period. *During the opt-out period, graduate students at UTM, UTSC and Aerospace wishing to opt-out are invited to contact the office to make alternate arrangements to obtain their refund. Our phone number is (416)978-7770 and our email address is opirg.toronto@utoronto.ca.

OPIRG Toronto 101–563 Spadina Cres.

Toronto, Ontario M5S 2J7 Phone: 416 978 7770 Fax: 416 971 2292

mustered a messy try after two deciding scrums only yards from the try-line. An unsuccessful conversion left the score at 14–24 after the first 40 minutes.

The back-and-forth continued. After the break, the crowd’s enthusiasm increased as it was obvious that the Blues were in need of a pick-me-up.

Five minutes into the second half, U of T settled for a penalty goal by third-year Scott Maguire, but Laurier soon struck back with third-year Ryan Gamm’s second try and second-year Samuel Goffin’s third conversion, raising the score to 17–31.

With less than 15 minutes left in the game, the Blues managed to scrape through Laurier’s defensive line following a close scrum, landing themselves a try and a conversion.

Despite U of T’s smooth 8-man pick up and pop pass to the scrum-half, the Golden Hawks stole possession, broke away, and locked down another try and conversion, securing a final score of 24–38 for their first victory of the season.

The Varsity Blues’ next game takes them to St. Catherine’s on September 11 to face-off against Brock University’s Badgers, starting at 1:00 pm.

Sports In Brief The Jays: Is it time to hit the panic button?

Lukas Weese Varsity Contributor

September has arrived and that means the culmination of a long, arduous 162 game season of Major League Baseball. The month of September often provides the most exciting baseball, as teams on the cusp of the postseason try to prepare their team for a late season playoff run. September baseball provides a glimpse of the contenders and showcases what it takes to outperform and outlast the competition in October to win the World Series.

The Toronto Blue Jays are facing this challenge right now, having just lost a series to their division rival the Boston Red Sox. Before the month of September began, the Blue Jays had a two-game lead in the AL East over the Red Sox, and teams like the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Yankees seemed out of contention.

But after being swept by the Yankees, dropping two of three to the Tampa Bay Rays, and losing the series to the Red Sox this weekend, the Jays are now two games back of Boston in the AL East and tied with the Orioles. Even worse to imagine for Jays

fans is that teams like the Yankees, the Detroit Tigers, and the Houston Astros are all within striking distance.

Throughout the season, the one constant has been the Jays’ brilliant starting pitching. However, during the road trip, the Blue Jays starters were 2–4, with a 4.59 ERA. During this rough patch, the starters averaged just a little over five innings and were punished by big innings, allowing 20-of-27 starter runs in just eight of the 49 innings.

Couple that with only scoring 35 runs during this nine game stretch and poor defense from the infielders and centre fielder Kevin Pillar, and there is cause for concern.

Despite the lacklustre performance, the Blue Jays are by no means out of it. They need to start manufacturing runs by incorporating some small ball and getting players like Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, and Edwin Encarnacion to swing not for the fences, but rather to right field, aiming for base hits.

So, to all the doubters out there, it is not time to panic. But the Jays will have to bounce back after the series against the Boston Red Sox this weekend, in order to have a viable shot at winning the division.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2016 • 23

var.st/sports

Sport

When workouts go too far

Town

round A s

Homecoming: Complete with pregame celebrations, the Varsity Blues football team take on the York Lion’s at U of T’s 2016 Homecoming.

Pregame celebrations Date: September 17, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm Location: Trinity College Back Field Homecoming game Date: September 17, 1:00 pm Location: Varsity Centre Varsity Blues Women’s Hockey: The Varsity Blues host the Leaside Wildcats in preseason action.

Date: September 13, 7:00 pm Location: Varsity Arena

Too much exercise can be just as addictive as drugs, for some. CHRISTIAN C/CC FLICKR

Stephanie Ntoukas Varsity Contributor

There are a number of behaviours that people engage in on a daily basis; if they go unchecked, they can spiral out of control and be taken to extreme measures.

Examples of such behaviours include drinking, drugs, sex, gambling, and even exercise. ‘Exercise addiction’, also known as ‘obligatory exercise’ or ‘exercise dependence’, is a condition that is described as an unhealthy obsession or dependence on a strict exercise regimen. Exercise addiction is often comorbidly associated with body image and eating disorders.

When exercise is removed for a 24–36 hour period from a person afflicted with exercise addiction, withdrawal symptoms become present. Symptoms can include changes in mood, anxiousness, sleeplessness, headaches, and loss of appetite. The condition is not well understood in terms of whether it is biological, inherited, psychological, cultural in nature, or some combination of the above.

Exercise is great for the body and mind, but the line between a healthy affinity for fitness and obsessive exercise can be narrow.

An athlete or leisurely exerciser will invest time and energy into the activity and

allow for flexibility in their schedule. The opposite is true for obsessive exercisers: their passion manifests itself in a rigidly controlled manner, with no flexibility accepted. Those who exercise in this fashion spend a great amount of time exercising, while decreasing the time spent on other important activities.

Although exercise dependence impacts a small portion of the population, studies report that the number of people addicted to exercise is correlated to the level of competition and the type of physical activity that individuals engage in.

Studies show that as many as 3 per cent of regular gym goers, 7 per cent of university sport science students, 25 per cent of amateur runners, 50 per cent of marathon runners, and 52 per cent of triathletes have been impacted by exercise dependence. Obsessive exercise was found to be more likely in athletes involved in team sports compared to individual sports.

Some traits of exercise addicted individuals are similar to those of other addicts, including obsessing over the chosen sport or activity, continuing to engage in the behaviour even though it is causing mental and physical harm, and engaging in the behaviour in secret.

A multitude of triggers exist that could result in unhealthy exercise behaviour.

The three most common triggers are: a method of weight control and weight loss, an attributable condition to a body image or eating disorder, and a dependence on increased serotonin and dopamine levels stimulating the brain’s reward pathway, a reaction inducing pleasurable feelings and reinforcing the behaviour.

There are hormonal triggers as well, but on a hormonal level a greater intensity and greater time spent exercising will be required to trigger the chemical release leading to feelings of reward and joy.

Exercise addiction puts individuals at risk for severe maladies. Exercise dependence can result in extreme weight loss and health conditions related to low body weight, such as nutrient deficiencies, suppressed immune system function and greater risk of infection, increased risk of miscarriage, decreased ability of the body to absorb essential nutrients, and muscle atrophy or a decrease in muscle mass.

To prevent regular exercise from getting out of hand, it is important to remember to take breaks from the gym or your physical activity of choice, especially if you are injured or sick. Attend family and social events, do not give up on other hobbies, and schedule time to work out in your weekly planner.

WRITE FOR SPORTS Sports@thevarsity.ca

A look at the seldom discussed exercise dependence happening all around us

World Cup of Hockey: Team Canada, Team Czech Republic, Team Finland, Team Russia, Team Sweden, Team USA, Team Europe, and Team North America face off in tournament play.

Date: September 17 to October 1 Location: Air Canada Centre

ADVERTISEMENTS

SEPTEMBER 12, 2016 • 24