That don’t make no senseMental health is not about money—and neither (did you see it coming?) is the pub...Medium Opinion, page 5

Coming a long wayBlack History Month kicks off with the principles of love, incluson, free-dom, and education in mind.Medium News, page 2

It’s old, but it’s still goodAnouilh’s translation of the ancient Greek play Antigone on the Drama Club’s stage was fated to be great.Medium Arts, page 8

Baby on boardPage 11

Not always ap-parentWhat’s it really like to have a child as you go to university? We uncover some touching stories this week.Medium Features, page 11

I sportsed really goodWhy the media keeps on asking the same questions and athletes keep on giving the same answers.Medium Sports, page 17

THE VOICE OF THE UNIVERSITY

OF TORONTO MISSISSAUGA

February 9, 2015Volume 41, Issue 17themedium.ca

Food, parking, res fee hikes passedMotion passes at Campus Council meeting on Thursday, in the face of opposition from UTMSU

The Campus Council meeting last Thursday passed a motion for the 2015/16 ancillary fee increase propos-al for parking, meal plans, food ser-vices, and residence. It also voted for a 300-place parking expansion.

UTMSU arranged a rally around campus before the meeting. Around 60 students chanted against the pro-posed fee increases: “Education is a right; we will not give up the fight,” and “Hey hey! Ho ho! Higher fees have got to go.”

The proposal involved a 5.5% in-crease for residence, 1.5% for meal plans, 2.8% for retail prices, and 3% for parking. The adjustments will be ap-plied on May 1.

Students entered Council Chambers and stood with signs in their hands. Before the vote on this motion, Ebi Agbeyegbe, UTMSU’s VP external, told the council committee that UTM’s tuition fees are the highest in Canada, and that students are in debt and still trying to get an education.

He showed the committee the over

1,300 signatures that UTMSU collect-ed, after seeing the meeting’s agenda, from students opposing the motion. Finally, he urged the committee to say no to or abstain on the fee increases.

The motion carried nonetheless.UTMSU and the students were

disappointed and thought it was a “shame”.

The proposal was submitted and

recommended for approval by Cam-pus Affairs Committee, responsible of approving the operating plans for all UTM service ancillaries each year, on January 8.

The advisory committees for Stu-dent Housing, Food Services, and Transportation and Parking also viewed the proposal and discussed the issues that can affect each ancil-

lary, such as “the mandatory nature of meal plans, the need for building a reserve for an extension onto the exist-ing parking deck, the management of parking supply and demand, and sus-taining residence guarantees for new and international students”.

According to Chad Nuttal, the chief housing officer for UTM Residence, unexpected maintenance took place in

the residences in 2013/14, which was expensed for 2015/16 with an advance of $1.3 million that has now been re-paid.

Nuttal said the accumulated defi-cit of $400,000 at the end of 2014/15 would no longer exist by 2016/17.

Additionally, Nuttal said when com-pared with other local universities like Ryerson and McMaster, UTM’s resi-dence fees are competitive.

The background for the fee increas-es for food and the meal plans was also discussed.

Vicky Jezierski, the director of Hos-pitality and Retail Services, talked about food services. She said that there would be a new food services contract as well as the possibility of a separate catering contract.

She also mentioned that the loss of 100 Erindale Hall rooms from now until 2017—due to the transfer of departmental offices to the build-ing in advance of work to be done on North—would have an impact on the meal plan revenue.

MENNA ELNAKAASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

FACEBOOK.COM/UTMSU/PHOTO

About 60 students joined UTMSU’s “Degree not Debt” rally against the proposed fee increases.

Model UN set back, but carries on

Students came together for UTM’s first annual Model United Nations Conference to debate solutions to global issues in human rights, tech-nology, and health in an event host-ed by the UTM Debating Club.

The club planned the event in col-laboration with UTM Partners in Health, ICCIT, and UTMSU for the weekend of January 31—although it was announced 10 minutes before the conference that some UTMSU representatives who were chairing sub-councils would not be attending after all.

“My expectations are to basically bring the idea of MUN on campus […] We’ve never had something like this,” said Talha Mahmood, presi-

dent of the UTM Debating Club, be-fore the conference started.

Participants had a forum to rep-resent the various countries of their choice and speak about their views

on current global issues while devel-oping their public speaking skills.

The conference was to feature three committees: the UN Human Rights Council, the World Health

Organization, and the Special Sum-mit on Technology.

UMAIMA GHORIWITH NOTES FROMMARIA IQBALNEWS EDITOR

Low attendance and absent representatives plague otherwise lively conference

CHRISTY TAM/THE MEDIUM

The conference moved into a smaller classroom in Kaneff after the three councils were merged.

Fees continued on page 2

MUN continued on page 3

2 «NEWS THE MEDIUM 02.09.2015

These reports are those that have been released to TheMedium and do not necessarily constitute an exhaustive list.

Students can contact the UTM Campus Police at 905 828 5200, Peel Regional Police at 905 453 3311, or Crime Stoppers at 1 800 222 8477.

Jezierski also said that based on the 2013/14 marketing comparisons in an annual food price survey with 33 other Canadian universities, UTM food prices came in, on average, at the eighth-lowest.

Further plans for campus food de-velopment involve a permanent food court in Davis in 2016, a Tim Hortons in Deerfield Hall, and a support space in the reconstructed North Building Phase Two in 2017, as well as a Star-bucks 10-year facelift in 2018.

As for the parking fees, Donoghue said that the campus population is growing, meaning that the parking space will need to be expanded this year—a year earlier than anticipated because of the impending loss of parking lot 1 during the construction of North Building Phase Two.

Donoghue said that the proposed parking fee increase will allow the ancillary service to operate without a subsidy from the university’s operat-ing budget and provide for all costs of capital renewal, including deferred

maintenance.He also talked about a motion de-

tailing the proposed parking lot ex-pansion.

UTM would build a second single-level parking deck with 300 spaces above a portion of parking lot 8 at the south end of campus, across from the RAWC and beside the existing park-ing deck.

By building another level over an existing lot, UTM will reduce the en-vironmental impact and avoid storm-water management issues, he said.

The funding for the project is to come from the UTM Parking An-cillary’s capital reserve and from a transfer to the ancillary from UTM’s general capital reserves.

This motion was also approved.“We are very disappointed with

the outcome of the meeting. We have been trying to lobby the administra-tion to see things our way in regards to fee increases since the beginning of the year. But with the outcome of this meeting, we see our voices and our concerns have been ignored,” Agbeyegbe said in an email after the

meeting.As for their future actions, Ag-

beyegbe said that UTMSU will focus on governance reform that will better represent what students want, noting that under the current structure, only two seats on the council are for un-dergraduates.

Both undergraduate seat holders, Nabil Aref and Alice Li, voted against the fee increase motions at the meet-ing.

“As a student, I greatly believe that we are the primary stakeholder[s] of this institution,” said Aref. “We should be consulted ahead of time in order to make a just decision when it comes to crucial matters such as these.”

Agbeyegbe said UTMSU will con-tinue to fight fee increases.

In addition, he mentioned the Drop Fees Coalition with meetings held every Wednesday from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Student Centre’s Green Room, calling on angry students and those who want change to come out.

The next Campus Council meeting is scheduled for March 5.

A priest on his own Camino

University chaplaincies across Cana-da have finished celebrating Catholic Students’ Week, which at UTM fea-tured a talk by Edward Curtis, a priest and pontifical master of ceremonies for Cardinal Thomas Collins, on walking the Camino de Santiago last summer.

The Camino, a pilgrimage route dated to the 9th century, is a popular trail across northern Spain that ends at the traditional burial place of the Biblical disciple James. The Camino has lately received increasing atten-tion from both religious and secular walkers, including at least five drama and documentary films in the last de-cade.

Courtney Strom, the president of the Catholic Students’ Club, intro-duced Curtis, who was born in To-ronto, ordained in 2008, and made an assistant pastor at St. Joseph’s Parish in Streetsville before being appointed pontifical master of ceremonies and studying canon law in Rome.

One of the route’s first purposes, said Curtis, was as a penance. “From a psychological point of view, this idea of a penance for something that you did wrong was to help you shed that

part of yourself that is causing you to do wrong,” he said. “It was an oppor-tunity to take the focus off of yourself, to take the focus off of your own ego.”

Curtis spoke about the importance of the pilgrimage as more than a “hike” but rather an intentional act of spiritual development and “encoun-tering God in a different way”.

“A lot of the paths are quite nar-row, so it forces you to walk alone,” he said. “It gives you that time for self-reflection.”

Being a priest, Curtis carried a mass kit with him to celebrate on the road. He told an anecdote about a couple who had been on the verge of separating but had decided to walk the Camino together in the hopes of revivifying their marriage. They met Curtis on the road on the day of their 25th wedding anniversary, and they asked to join the mass and renew their vows.

He talked about the hospitality along the route, where €8 would buy a night at a hostel and €10 a full meal and a bottle of wine. “The whole place was set up to cater to your needs,” he joked.

But the walking itself was hard. Pil-grims need to do their laundry every night after walking an average of 20 km. Curtis dropped some of the bag-

gage he had brought with him. “I had a backpack, and when I first set out, it weighed about 35 pounds,” he said. “After the first day I went through my bag meticulously and started throw-ing stuff out.”

He summarized the experience as a “metaphor for life”, which is a difficult journey made worthwhile “if it leads towards a goal”.

After the event, refreshments were served and a CSC executive thanked the pilgrim. “It’s very important that we learn to take time, even five min-utes out of our busy schedule, and re-flect on our life—how we get closer to God,” she said.

The week’s other events included mass, an “Art of Faith” event involv-ing sketching and refreshments to de-stress, and on-campus office hours with a priest.

“During this busy time of year with a heavy load of deadlines and mid-terms, UTM CSC strives to serve the UTM community by giving the op-portunities for the students and staff to be nourished spiritually and with God’s grace,” said Strom of the week.

The UTM Catholic Students’ Club is part of the Canadian Catholic Cam-pus Ministry, with members from over 75 campuses across the country.

LUKE SAWCZAKEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

EILEEN LEE/THE MEDIUM

Father Edward Curtis was the guest speaker at the Catholic Students’ Week event last Thursday.

Father Edward Curtis visits UTM for Catholic Students’ Week event

Fees continued from Cover

Students rally against fees

January 29, 7:00 p.m.Theft Under $5,000A student reported the theft of her laptop from the third floor of the CCT Building. The items were left unattended as the student attended class.

January 29, 8:45 p.m.Bylaw OffencesA UTM student reported an injured raccoon near Erindale Hall Resi-dence. Mississauga Animal Services attended and removed the raccoon from campus.

January 30, 6:30 a.m.Property DamageCampus Police investigated a singular motor vehicle accident that caused damage to a light fixture.

January 31, 6:26 a.m.Theft Under $5,000Campus Police investigated the theft of a cellphone from the RAWC. The item was left unattended by the stu-dent.

February 1, 11:48 a.m. Call to Service

A power outage occurred in a resi-dence building. The power was soon restored.

February 1, 3:50 p.m.Medical CallCampus Police transported an ill stu-dent to Credit Valley Hospital.

February 2, 9:50 p.m.Information GeneralA student reported a minor fire in his personal vehicle.

February 3, 3:37 p.m.Fraud Campus Police investigated two stu-dents who had altered a MiWay U-Pass.

February 4, 8:30 a.m.Personal Safety ConcernCampus Police investigated a person-al safety concern that a student had reported.

February 4, 5:05 p.m.Theft Under $5,000Campus Police investigated the theft of a cellphone from the RAWC. The phone was left unattended.

02.09.2015 THE MEDIUM NEWS» 3

Manvir Chaudhari5th year, life sci

Riya Khaneja1st year, business

Eliza Khan5th year, theatre & English

Shahzeb Hassan2nd year, finance

Go clubbing in Montreal. Definitely will not watch the Habs game.

I’m going on a family cruise, maybe to Disneyland.

Montreal trip. It would’ve been Blue Mountain but that’s no longer organized.

Reading and studying for my finance exam.

»WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FORREADING WEEK?

Federal court calls ban on face coverings “unlawful”

The Federal Court of Canada has judged “unlawful” the federal govern-ment’s ban on face coverings during citizenship ceremonies. The ban was introduced in 2011 by former Immi-gration Minister Jason Kenney. The court found that the policy violates Canada’s own immigration legisla-tion.

Source: Toronto Star

U of T researchers call for greater public input for new vaccines

U of T researchers are calling on global health officials to open up con-sultation on whether new vaccines should be introduced in a country to the public. Among their concerns is that babies now receive many more vaccines than previous generations did and that newer vaccinations are offering protection from diseases that are now considered rare.

Source: U of T News

Dixie Outlet Mallwill not be demolished,says new owner

Dixie Outlet Mall is not intended to be demolished, according to the company that bought the Mississauga shopping centre last fall. Cominar Real Estate Investment Trust, which purchased the mall from the Quebec -based Ivanhoé Cambridge, is among the largest owners and managers of commercial property in Quebec. The mall opened in 1956 as Dixie Plaza.

Source: Toronto Star

U of Guelph seeksto break record for biggest snowball fight

The University of Guelph is hoping to break the world record for larg-est snowball fight. Over 5,834 people must participate in event on Monday in order to break the record. As of press time, the Facebook event had under 1,800 guests expected to at-tend. Hundreds of U of T students had their own fight on Tuesday, which may become an annual event.

Source: Guelph Mercury & Globe and Mail

Mayors demand greater funding on the eve of federal election

Mayors from cities across Canada are calling on federal parties to provide greater funding to cities. Thursday’s Federation of Canadian Municipali-ties Big Cities Summit saw 19 mayors, including Bonnie Crombie, discuss municipal issues such as transit and housing. The mayors are expected to draw attention to municipal issues during the upcoming federal election.

Source: Mississauga News

Last week saw the start of Black His-tory Month in the U.S. and Canada.

UTMSU, ECASA, the Somali Stu-dents’ Association, and Caribbean Connections collaborated to plan the month’s events at UTM.

Although the opening ceremony was cancelled due to the snow day, the rest of the events are still on schedule.

The theme this year is “LIFE”—love, inclusion, freedom, and educa-tion.

When asked why they chose the theme, ECASA president Chinelo Okereke said it “really sets this year apart […] we are going back to our roots, we are educating, we are cel-ebrating”.

Okereke said that the collabora-tion between the groups involved this year “show[s] a greater form of unity amongst clubs on campus”.

Black History Month has come a long way from “Negro Awareness Week” to being recognized officially as “Black History Month” in 1976.

Last week’s events included the Panel on Police Brutality on Tuesday, which featured four panellists from around the GTA who are involved in educating the community on black history and tackling current issues.

The panellists were Digal Halo, a lawyer with the Office of the Ontario Ombudsman; Zakaria Abdulla, an ad-visor to the UTM SSA who also works

with the advocacy group The Policing Literacy Initiative; UTSU president Yolen Bollo-Kamara, also a commu-nity organizer with Black Lives Mat-ter; and La Tanya Grant, a first cousin of Jermaine Carby and the chair of the Justice for Jermaine committee.

Jermaine Carby was shot and killed by the Peel Regional Police last Sep-tember. Witnesses claim he had his hands up the entire time and had no weapons in his possession.

The event featured discussion on police brutality, the treatment of black students in public high schools, and the treatment of black women.

Bollo-Kamara said she believed strongly that “we [black women] need to be telling our stories”.

Each panellist encouraged raising awareness through social media, let-ters, and public speaking.

Grant said that the most effective approach is to “change the narrative” and not let others define black people.

Upcoming events include an open mic night, a discussion on how to sup-port black businesses, and art displays by black artists.

The organizers shared the hope of a future without racism.

Okereke said that showcasing “black excellence” will show the world that “we as a collective empower each other and educate ourselves on ways to beat the norm [...] and transform the perceived disadvantage [of black communities] into an advantage.”

The organizers spoke about the im-portance of the month despite the lack of attention it receives in mainstream education.

Melissa Theodore, of the St. Lucian diaspora, chair of the BHM Com-mittee and UTMSU’s VP equity, says learning black history is necessary.

“Our education system is based on a Eurocentric model that intentionally highlights contributions from white people,” she said. “As anti-black rac-ism is needed for white supremacy to thrive, it is important for black youth, and everyone, to become aware of our past, as it will determine our future.”

Abisola Olaniyi, volunteer coor-dinator for the Women’s Centre, said the month offers an opportunity to explore a “different section of history that’s not often talked about”.

The UTMWC is also hosting events this month.

“We try and look at sections of identity […] such as how sex inter-sects with race and gender and [other] political and status issues going on within these communities,” Olaniyi added.

The centre hosted a film screen-ing and discussion on colourism on Wednesday and have an upcoming panel on “Hair and Politics”, examin-ing how hair products aren’t designed for afro-textured hair.

UTMSU, ECASA, SSA, and Carib-bean Connections will host the “Black Excellence Ball” on February 27.

MARIUM FAISAL

New LIFE for black history

Due to the low turnout—22 out of 37 registered participants—includ-ing the absence of three UTMSU VPs who were supposed to chair the Hu-man Rights Council—Mahmood and MUN president Bilal Sandeela merged all three committees into a General Assembly and split up the teams into delegates for individual countries.

Mahmood said he was told by UT-MSU president Hassan Havili, who participated in the conference, the morning of the event that VP equity Melissa Theodore—who was supposed to chair the council—and VP external Ebi Agbeyegbe were “not feeling well” and that VP university affairs and aca-demics Genny Lawen had prior com-mitments. Agbeyegbe and Lawen were slated to co-chair the same council.

The assembly was also moved from a large lecture hall in Kaneff to a small-er classroom for the two days.

On the first day, the General As-sembly was chaired by Shrey Handa, a fourth-year finance specialist and the director of the conference.

Illegal immigration was discussed in the assembly when the motion proposed by the Iranian delegate to discuss the inflow of narcotics due to illegal immigration was passed.

By the end of the first session, mo-tions were proposed by the delegates of the U.S., the Holy See, the U.K., and India to debate the flow of illegal im-migration from Hispanic nations, and consequences such as racist ideologies, terrorism, and tighter border controls. The motions were passed.

In the second half of the day, del-egates lobbied and drafted resolutions

during the unmoderated caucus. Del-egates presented their working papers to the General Assembly, after which the final resolution was voted on.

A resolution by Canada and the Holy See to provide basic necessities to illegal immigrants in every state and create an organization to control illegal immigration passed with 10 votes.

The conference resumed the next day, chaired by second-year history and political science specialist Fergus Talbot. Delegates unanimously voted to take up the issue of cyberterrorism.

After the delegates presented their prospective resolutions, the resolution proposed by France was passed, which called for the increased mandate of the International Criminal Court to try cyberterrorists and the foundation of an international organization to track and prosecute cyberterrorists.

Delegates of Canada, the U.S., India, and France committed to form an in-ternational organization to deal with cyberterrorists through financial and other means.

After an hour-long break, the award ceremony was held.

First-year student Siddartha Sen-gupta, representing the People’s Dem-ocratic Republic of Korea, received the Best Delegate Award in recognition of his oratory skills. Honourable men-tion went to sophomore Philip Power (U.S.) and part-time high school, part-time UTM student Hermish Mehta (Holy See, People’s Republic of China).

Asked whether the event was up to his expectations, Talbot said he had mixed feelings.

“On the positive side, the delegates managed to both spark and preserve a lively debate [...] On the negative side,

both the Debating Club and its MUN subsidiary nearly suffered a setback when three VPs from [UTMSU] de-cided not to commit to the event,” he said, hoping for “more professionalism and increased support” next time.

“A few executives could not arrive because of unexpected events,” said Havili. “I arrived on campus around 8 a.m. and notified members [...] as I was preparing logistics and materials.”

Havili projects that the event will be around on campus for years to come and said it was a great experience.

In a Facebook post after the confer-ence, the UTM Debating Club called it a “unique experience” with “intense, exhilarating and rewarding debates”.

Handa also expressed his satisfac-tion with the event, adding that the Debating Club will work on making the MUN “bigger and better” in future.

MUN continued from Cover

Illegal immigration and cyberterrorism debated

4 « 02.09.2015

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More to the story than stress

YOURS,

LUKE SAWCZAK

Looking at a couple of issues, a pat answer seems more like a dismissal

There are a few things on my mind this week, and none really stands out, so I’ll touch on each.

MENTAL HEALTH & MONEYA UTMSU exec wrote a letter (to be read on the facing page) on what he believes is a failing of the university to serve students, instead raising fees. Okay—same old, same old. But some-thing in there frustrated me. It was the claim that high tuition fees have a direct impact on mental health, and a second time, that it’s “one of the core causes” of mental health issues. This seems to be a page taken from the current VP equity, who last year said on Facebook that high fees were the “root cause” of mental health prob-lems among students.

It would be nice if they could back up generalizations like that. I won’t make a snap judgement on it. It’s a complicated topic. Yes, it’s true that there are correlations between fi-nancial difficulties and rates of poor mental health. I’ve known households where financial stresses create vola-tile family dynamics, and a person’s breakdown can certainly be provoked by instability in the home.

Indeed, even our features section this week includes an article on a study in which researchers found that children from lower-income families

had worse mental health (as mea-sured by their having given less accu-rate responses to factual questions—an odd metric, in my mind, but then I’m not in psychology or sociology).

But this bare relationship is far from the entire story. For one thing, an ap-plication of the pattern to chronic is-sues is unintuitive. Consider the guest writer of last week’s editorial, Larissa Ho. The implication that situations like hers among students would be greatly alleviated by reduced financial pressure is at best demeaning.

Moreover, the trend of rising men-tal health issues among students is a massive and frightening one—I’m always reminded of a Maclean’s ar-ticle (“The mental health crisis on campus”, 2012) in which the use of health and counselling centres by students in crisis situations relating to stress, anxiety, and depression was reported to have doubled or grown exponentially in Canadian (and some American) universities. That pace is far ahead of tuition increases, and is not province-specific, which relates to the oft-quoted statistic that Ontarians pay the highest tuition in Canada.

These facts very strongly point to a deeper, more serious problem. And what frustrates me is that, in this one branch of action, at least, the mes-sage from UTMSU isn’t constructive.

Chanting about dropping fees is fine, but does nothing to address the real causes. There are other programs by UTMSU that do a better job of ad-dressing it; great. But this particular line of attack stems from a chronic lack of innovation on the part of stu-dent politicians in general to think of other solutions—or rather slogans—than “We want to pay less.”

Besides, the students’ union itself is about to propose fee increases at the Campus Affairs Committee meeting on Thursday. They’re seeking increas-es to the U-Pass levy, among other smaller things. But they’re not exactly mounting an attack on our health.

KEEP THE PUB OPENWhile we’re on the subject of student stress, let’s talk about a longstanding means to unwind: the Blind Duck Pub. It’s been a place to eat, socialize, and perhaps have a beer (depending on your social and religious persua-sions, I suppose) for about as long as UTM has existed, although it’s traded buildings a couple of times.

But one thing has changed: in the early days, the pub was open on Fri-day nights and Saturdays, and was a pretty popular hangout.

It’s not the most important ques-tion to ask, but why has that changed? Why does it close, of all things, earlier

on Friday than on other days?When I asked last year’s president,

Raymond Noronha, about it, he said there wouldn’t be enough students using the pub at those times to make staffing it profitable.

Hmm. Maybe true, maybe not. But why not do a trial run and find out?

And even if those hours are unprof-itable, it’s not like the pub is profitable in general. It depends on a massive annual advance of tens of thousands of student dollars from UTMSU that serve as a donation to keep it run-ning. (Yes, you pay for the pub indi-rectly even if you never eat there.) The least they can do is keep it open for you. Which, by the by, they can afford to do. UTMSU is sitting on a pile of over $1.1 million accumulated stu-dent dollars, after all.

Sure, maybe the issue isn’t at the front of students’ minds (except on Friday afternoon when they find the doors closed at 5 p.m.). But if we want a space for UTM students to relax, a place to allow them to engage more easily, a general improvement of the services and quality of life they get, why not deal with it?

Have a good Reading Week!

02.09.2015 THE MEDIUM OPINION» 5

Professional wilderness Students are getting

a raw deal at UTMLast December, the local union rep-resenting many University of Toronto sessional instructors (including the present writer) filed for conciliation in its ongoing negotiations with the administration. A third-party media-tor has been appointed by the Ontar-io Ministry of Labour in an attempt to help the two sides come to an agree-ment on a new contract. In the event that an agreement cannot be reached, the union has voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action. All these developments provide a backdrop for what I wish to focus on here.

I would like to draw attention to a much bigger picture by asking a simple question: “Is undergradu-ate teaching undervalued in North American institutions of higher learning?” My response can be stated briefly: the very existence of a strong trend towards hiring more and more non-permanent educators is the strongest possible evidence for the devaluing of undergraduate teach-ing in universities and colleges. As modern corporations, institutions of higher learning are finding reasons to “outsource” labour, on the evident assumption that education is just one more “product” on the market that should be produced and delivered as efficiently and profitably as possible. This has happened because those who are most rewarded by the system (i.e. tenured faculty and senior adminis-tration) perceive such an approach as necessary for the continuation of the very institutions that they manage. As in other sectors of the economy, the out-sourcing of labour is a con-venient way of dealing with what are usually presented as unforgiving “fis-cal constraints’’.

This approach need not be under-stood as part of some sort of con-spiracy against non-permanent in-structors among tenured faculty and administrators. Large institutions, particularly those with a long history, generate their own complex internal culture. Many features of such insti-tutions are simply taken for granted as “the way things are”. Perhaps the emergence of a very large underclass of university educators is unavoidable given current economic conditions.

Then again, perhaps not. Human institutions are built up through the decisions (large and small) of count-less individuals about goals, priorities, and the use of resources. These deci-sions involve values, either implicitly or explicitly held. What we need right now, I would suggest, is a substantial conversation about the values that are shaping undergraduate teaching. It is a modern myth that current eco-nomic conditions necessitate the out-sourcing of teaching. If the teaching of undergraduates was as valued as it

should be, resources would be allo-cated. Why is it that we (quite rightly) designate significant resources for the education of children and youth from kindergarten to grade 12, but then decide that learning after high school can be effectively facilitated by educa-tors who are divided between highly paid and fully supported “insiders” on the one hand, and a growing army of poorly paid and contingent instruc-tors on the other? Is it really the case that teaching is of so little value that it hardly matters if many of its practi-tioners (who have been trained in the same way as tenured faculty) are now consigned to a kind of professional wilderness, never able to be meaning-fully integrated into the organization unless they happen to land one of the increasingly rare tenured positions?

Academic work is traditionally di-vided into three categories: research, teaching, and administration. What set of values has led North American universities to increasingly rely on poorly compensated and marginal-ized teachers, while the same trend has not appeared among researchers and administrators? We don’t out-source these two activities because they remain highly valued, whereas teaching is not. What I’m referring to here are the values inherent in the structure of the institution, not those values that individuals within the in-stitution might hold or put into prac-tice.

Anyone who cares about pedagogy and who has some experience in the classroom knows that teaching is a highly complex activity that calls for a great deal of dedication, experi-mentation, reflection, and patience. It should hardly need pointing out that good teaching is at least as chal-lenging to develop as good research or good administration. There is a night-and-day difference between an environment in which students genu-inely grow in the course of their stud-ies and the all too common scenario in which large numbers of students are merely “accredited”. And yet this important part of the public role of our universities, i.e. the facilitation of real learning, is in the process of being heavily discounted. Research and administration are seen as fully professional activities, whereas teach-

ing is not, at least if we consider how more and more postsecondary educa-tors are actually treated.

Imagine a healthcare system in which specialists were able to say to general practitioners, “We know that you’ve had similar training, but because you’re only providing day-to-day medical care, your compen-sation is going to be about a third of ours, and you won’t have any say on policy.” To take another analogy, perhaps the teaching of undergradu-ates is evolving into something like dental hygiene: instructors play a merely supporting role to the main actors. The difference is that dental hygienists are not trained as compre-hensively as dentists, but still have a reasonably well-paid and important role inside the system. This sector has not been outsourced to contract labour, for obvious reasons: in such a skilled trade (i.e. that of the hygien-ist), employers (i.e. dentists) want to keep high-quality personnel. I would suggest that sessional instructors are nowhere near to having this kind of integration in their sector. Given the difficulty and value (is this still the case?) of what we do, this should pro-voke a wider discussion among the stakeholders of the university system as a whole.

I’m not holding my breath, but those who are in the best position to effect change (tenured faculty and administrators) need to wake up to the fact that they are allowing the in-stitution to which they have devoted their careers to become weaker with respect to its core mission of offering education to the wider public. This growing weakness does not reside in any lack of skill or dedication among the increasing numbers of sessional “faculty”, but is inherent in the struc-ture of the organization itself. Yet surely no institution of higher learn-ing, no matter what might be hap-pening in the economy, has any busi-ness compromising its pedagogical culture. University teaching already faces a host of challenges (as brilliant-ly analyzed in a pair of recent U of T Press publications: Ivory Tower Blues and Lowering Higher Education). The last thing that the postsecondary teaching profession needs is for uni-versities to continue to cannibalize their own in an attempt to maintain the status quo for a shrinking core of “important” employees. The prob-lems are complex and run deep. One can only hope that all of us who value the university will be able to summon the intelligence and moral courage to think of a better way to pursue our collective mission.

Professor Adam LehtoDepartment of Historical Studies

I’m writing to inform UTM students that the administration does not care about student debt and they definitely do not care about listening to student voices.

This past Thursday, the members of Campus Council, surrounded by a ring of protesting students, voted to increase parking fees by 3%, meal plan fees by 1.5%, residence fees by 5.5%, and food retail prices by 1.5%. We at UTMSU knew this vote was taking place this Thursday once we received notice of the agenda the week before. We quickly organized and started collecting petitions. We were able to collect over 1,400 signa-tures from students in a matter of two days. We organized a rally around campus where we were able to gath-er close to 70 angry students at the meeting. We stood diligently for two hours as the council went through the process of the agenda. It is important to note that before this meeting there were seven students who requested rights to speak about the particu-lar motion. When we arrived at the meeting, we were told that the Coun-cil’s secretary was not in receipt of any such requests and therefore our voic-es would not be heard. When it came to the motion we were only granted three minutes of speaking time in to-tal. After I spoke, the vote took place and majority of the Council voted to accept these increases. The fee in-creases will be in effect as of May 1.

The implications of these increases will add on to an already struggling student congregation. Students at U of T pay the highest tuition in Cana-da. After a brief fee freeze in Ontario in 2006, our tuition has increased ev-ery year. Last year, our fees rose 3–5% for domestic students and 10–11% for international students. This year our tuition fees are set to increase again. Student debt is also at an all-time high with students incurring OSAP debt and credit card debt. Students who take loans end up paying more for tuition, given the interest incurred on the loans. Approximately 60% of the student population on this cam-pus is on OSAP, a statistic well known to the university. The increase in fees also has an impact on students’ aca-demic experience as one is constantly worried about paying exorbitant fees. If the administration cared about student debt and what students go through, why would they keep pro-posing these increases and adding to student stress? The mental health of students seems to be a rising concern for the administration. Well, surprise, surprise—not having enough money for education is one of the core fac-tors.

Students have to eat every day and now with an increase to the already

high food prices, it puts a lot of stu-dents at a disadvantage. We can pre-dict that the membership of our Food Centre will increase with this price hike.

UTM is a commuter campus and a number of students live far away where public transportation is un-available, so they are forced to drive. A number of students who drive are forced to park off campus in places like Erindale Park, South Common Mall, and Square One because they cannot afford to park on campus. Even when they can, it comes at a very high cost. With these increases we expect a number of students to start parking off campus. We know there is a need for more parking but we do not believe students should front the cost for such capital projects.

As for residence and meal plans, these fees affect international students the most. First-year international stu-dents come here and have nowhere else to live. International students already pay ridiculous amounts in order to study here at U of T. On av-erage, an international student pays $35,000 in tuition fees alone. Now, they will have to pay more to live and to eat. This adds pressure on in-ternational students to excel and to complete their degree in the shortest amount of time, because their fami-lies cannot afford to pay more. This has a direct impact on their mental health.

We did this rally because we want-ed the voices of students to be heard. There are four student seats with two seats belonging to undergraduates on Campus Council. On the other gov-erning bodies, there is more student representation, but they are drowned out by administrative, faculty, and community voices. The governance structure here disenfranchises our students.

Moving forward we will first en-gage the student population to see what they would like to do. We will focus on governance reform and on fighting the increases to tuition fees. We as students on campus have been getting the raw end of the stick for a very long time. We want to see re-form that places student needs at the forefront without harming students negatively. We also want to get more students engaged in the Drop Fees Coalition. We meet every Wednesday from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Student Centre Green Room. We want students who are angry and students who want to see change to join this coalition and help us as we continue this fight for fairness, because it is not over yet. It just started!

Ebi AgbeyegbeUTMSU VP external

When teaching matters less and less to the university

They need to wake up to the fact that they are

letting the institutionto which they have

devoted their careers become weaker.

EMERSON CALCADAMy name is Emerson Calcada, I wish to run for campus council the reason I am running is to improve the student voice on campus. The voice on campus is being stifled by the administra-tion and students need to be heard. On campus council I will be the voice of the student. The policies that I will work for is to lower the park-ing fees, elimination of the exam deferral fee, and push for the 1.0 drop credit to be applied to the students because without someone to stand up and fight we are being taken advantage of.

ALICE LIAs the current elected full-time undergraduate representative on UTM Campus Council, I believe I am an excellent candidate because I possess the relevant experience and skills to be a student leader. During my previous 2 years of service, not only did I gain an understanding of how things work behind the scenes at UTM, I also made sure the student voice is heard and repre-sented in university decisions. Campus Council is the highest decision-making body at UTM and I hope to contribute another year of dedicated service to the school. Looking forward to another year of success for UTM! https://www.facebook.com/UtmCampusCouncil

ABDULLA OMARIIf I, Abdulla Omari, am granted the ability to sit on the Campus Council then I will strive to ensure that the student message and opinions are clear and without misinterpretation as well as paid the proper respect that the ideas of 13 000 students are due. I would strive to encour-age equality and student interests in education and financials are respected and considered at every meeting. I am a year- one student so I cannot claim experience in all matters adminis-trative; but I can certainly claim a willingness to learn and a determination to change the student experience.

LEE BAILEYI have been a member of this college for more than 25 years. I teach and hold office hours at UTM five days a week. This schedule will per-mit me to serve faithfully as a member of this committee. In addition to attending Erindale College Council I have served a Chair of RPPC for 2 terms, as a member of Campus Affairs for 1 term and a member of Campus Council for 1 term. I have never missed a meeting. I ask for your support.Yours truly,Lee BaileyDepartment of Economics

BERNARD KATZI joined Erindale College, as our campus was then called, in 1976 and have taught in the Department of Philosophy since then. I served as Erindale Philosophy Discipline Representative (1979-1981), Associate Chair and Graduate Co-ordinator for Department of Philosophy (1995- 98), Associate Dean, Humanities, of the School of Graduate Studies (1999-2004), and Acting Vice-Dean, Graduate of UTM (2012-13). I have also served on numerous College, Department and University committees.

ANGELA LANGEAngela Lange is a Professor of Biology. She obtained her Ph.D. from York University, Toronto, Canada, prior to taking up an NSERC Post-doc-toral Fellowship in the Department of Zoology, University of Toronto. Professor Lange has held a variety of important administrative positions,

including Chair of the Department of Biology and Vice-Dean, Undergraduate, Teaching and Learning and has over the years at UTM been very involved in curricular development. She is currently Associate Chair, Research. Professor Lange served as the Chair of the Academic Af-fairs Committee for two terms and on the Execu-tive Committee of UTM’s previous governance model.

JOSEPH LEYDONAs a faculty member, Joe is very involved in stu-dent mentorship through his role as faculty advi-sor to the undergraduate student society and works closely with the Career Centre to promote student professional development. Dr. Leydon is committed to experiential learning with par-ticular interests in field work, supervision of student research projects, co-curricular activities and community outreach through his manage-ment of the Department’s fourth year internship course. Joseph is currently in his second term as member of UTM Campus Council, as well as Chair of the UTM Campus Affairs Committee and member of the University Affairs Board.

JUDITH POËJudith Poë, Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada, is experienced in university governance having chaired the Erindale College Council, served on the Academic Board and currently chairs the UTM Academic Affairs Committee. She studied at Imperial College, London. A bioin-organic chemist, her current scholarship is in chemical education. An Editorial Board mem-

ber of the Journal of Science Education and Technology and a President’s Teaching Acad-emy member, she has also received the OCUFA Teaching Award and a 3M Teaching Fellowship. Past- President of the Canadian Society for Chemistry, she is currently Chair of the Board of the Canadian Chemical Education Trust.

HOLGER SYMEI have taught at UTM since 2005, and have been the Chair of the Department of English and Drama since 2011. I have served on numerous university and campus committees, and am currently on the Jackman Humanities Institute’s advisory board. As a scholar of contemporary theatre, I frequently explore the intersections of academic work and the creative professions and have a strong interest in public outreach. On Campus Council, I hope to serve as a voice for the Humanities, one of the largest and, thanks to our theatre and art gallery, most publicly visible areas of academic study at UTM. http://www.syme.dispositio.net/

ANTHONY WENSLEYI have been a member of the UTM community since 1988. I have been consistently concerned to do all I can to make UTM a welcoming and supportive environment for faculty, students and staff alike. I believe that over the years I have demonstrated my commitment to this goal and I would like to have to opportunity to continue to contribute.

NOUR ALIDEEBMy name is Nour Alideeb and I am a second year student fulfilling a double major in biology and economics. I am running to be your repre-sentative on the UTM Academic Affairs Com-mittee. This committee is responsible for the quality of your campus’s “teaching, learning and research functions” and as a member I will fight for your right to the best policies for students on campus. We deserve the best considering that we pay the highest tuition in the country! I be-lieve in fighting for an accessible, affordable and enjoyable education, so please vote Nour Alideeb for a better campus!

BEST ANAELEI am currently a second year student specializ-ing in criminology andsocio- legal studies, and I intend to contest for a position in the Academic Affairs Committee in UTM. My interest in this position stems from my desire to be a liaison between the students and the school authority, to be involved and contrib-ute to the governance of the academic affairs

of the school, and to help enhance the overall academic experience of the students in UTM.

SARAH AMJADAs we continue to learn and grow it becomes imperative to take academic and financial com-mitments into account. Each year presents new challenges to consider as we strive to flourish in a promising environment. Students are entitled to voice their opinions and by being a part of the Academic Affairs Committee, I intend to ad-vocate for increased student facilitation, award programs and enlighten fellow UTMers about scholarship opportunities and possible benefits to lighten burdens. It would indeed be an honor to sustain this renowned institution’s euphoric experience; vote for Sarah Amjad.

VANESSA KATTARAs student dedicated to the student movement, I have been involved in many different commit-tees and events on campus to promote and protect student rights. Involved with the UTMSU for 2 years I have been involved in advocating for

progressive academic polices and more student involvement in governance. If elected to the Academic Affairs Committee I will continue to advocate for student rights and fight for a better academic life for all students. RYAN PERSAUDHi folks, my name is Ryan Persaud and I wish to be your representative on the academic af-fairs committee. In previous years, the voices of the students hasn’t been heard as clearly as it should be. I aim to change that. I have spent the last year working in depth with academic con-cerns that students have and I plan to bring this to the administration if I am elected. I will work towards implementing a better credit/ no credit system, along with better academic rights for students across the campus.

BETSY SUSAN YELDHOSEFull-time 3rd year undergraduate student with Biology for Health Science and Chemistry Major, running for UTM Academic Affairs Committee. Experience includes Campus Experience Coach

2015 University of Toronto Mississauga Campus Council ElectionsVoting Period: Monday, February 9, 2015 at 9:00 a.m. to Friday, February 20, 2015 at 5:00 p.m.

Student Candidates’ Statements. Online voting will take place on ROSI (www.rosi.utoronto.ca).

Teaching Staff Candidates’ Statements. Voting will take place online on a website designated by the CRO.

Student Candidates’ Statements. Online voting will take place on ROSI (www.rosi.utoronto.ca).

2015 University of Toronto Mississauga Academic Affairs Committee ElectionsVoting Period: Monday, February 9, 2015 at 9:00 a.m. to Friday, February 20, 2015 at 5:00 p.m.

ALBINA ALMETOVAGreetings, Everyone!My name is Albina Almetova. I am a second year student. I am working as a Global Connections Leader in International Education Centre. I am a great leader; I plan and organize events on and off campus. My ambition will allow to improve different spheres in UTM. I am able to provide help in an effective manner. Our students will learn about our opportunities. I will maintain the relationship between the units on Campus. With my experience I would be pleased to work in Campus Affairs Committee. I am able to take responsibility and do a professional job.

NASH CHIKOWOREHello fellow students,My name is Nyasha Chikowore and I am cur-rently running for 2015 UTM Campus Affairs Committee. As a representative for the students, my goal is to help implement better and cheaper food options on campus, deal with the ongoing issue of parking fee hikes as well as the resident fees that our rez friends deal with. As an ongoing volunteer for UTMSU, I know the issues that the students deal, and my goal if elected is to be the voice of the students and make sure that change comes and our university experience improves.

MAHEEN FARRUKHI am not promising a change in our system but what I can guarantee is making the right deci-sions by voicing the concerns of the students, the biggest stakeholders of the university. I want to be on the Campus Affairs Committee so that I can ensure that the issues that directly affect the student population are heard and that the Committee’s priorities are in line with the best

interests of the students. I would like to bring responsibility, accountability and integrity to the student role in the organization.

ABDUL HADI TARIQHadi Tariq is an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto majoring in biology and chemistry. He is expected to graduate in 2017 and plans to pursue a career in cardiology.As a member of the Campus Affairs Commit-tee and a current board of director, Hadi will strive to work as part of a team to enhance the quality of student and campus life. He will also work towards progressive academic policies to boost the academic experience of students on this campus. So vote for Hadi Tariq. Vote for a stronger student body.

LINA HASSANAs a member of the Campus Affairs Council, my aim would be to voice student issues and concerns in an efficient and collaborative man-ner. I would strive to the best of my abilities to enhance student and campus life. UTM students are the pillars on which this university stands and as a UTM student, I will be honored to serve as a medium to cater to the needs of this com-munity. Becoming a part of the student repre-sentation would be a privilege.So if you will; Vote LINA HASSAN!

HODA M. KHANHello UTMer’s,I am grateful for this nomination and eager to serve if elected. I am deeply committed to excel-lence in Campus Affairs at all levels by repre-senting students at the Campus Affairs Commit-tee. Currently, I am a senior student pursuing

a double major in Biology and Environmental Sciences. On campus, I have dedicated my time to HCC, The Varsity and served as event plan-ning volunteer with the Union. It would be an honour to represent the diverse constituency as a member on the Committee and I am asking for your vote and support in this leadership position and challenge.

MARIA RABBATMaria Rabbat is a Syrian Canadian and a gradu-ate of the International School of Choueifat Lebanon where she graduated with an honours baccalaureate degree. She is currently pursuing a degree in Financial Economics at the Univer-sity of Toronto and hopes to become a TA in her second year for Bailey’s first year economics. Maria is a determined student who hopes to work hard for herself and the betterment of her fellow UTM first year students. She hopes and plans to be the voice for many undergraduate first years if she gets elected to be part of the Campus Affairs Committee.

TSZ YAN TAMHi! I’m Tsz, a third year student, running as a full-time undergraduate student for the Campus Affairs Committee. Academics are not the only determining factor of a good university, aspects such as the quality of student and campus life also play an important role. Currently an execu-tive on the UTM Residence Council, I’ve had exposure to UTM’s governance and wish to take my involvement in UTM affairs even further. Uni-versity is supposed to be “the best years of your life” and hopefully, I can influence the quality of YOUR university life through this committee if I am elected.

LEE BAILEYI have been a member of this college for more than 25 years. I teach and hold office hours at UTM five days a week. This schedule will per-mit me to serve faithfully as a member of this committee. In addition to attending Erindale College Council I have served a Chair of RPPC for 2 terms, as a member of Campus Affairs for 1 term and a member of Campus Council for 1 term. I have never missed a meeting. I ask for your support.Yours truly,Lee BaileyDepartment of Economics

JENNIFER CARLSONI have been a faculty member of the Sociology Department since Fall 2013 and a member of CAC since Fall 2014. I am committed to contrib-uting to UTM’s dynamism as the campus faces new opportunities and new challenges. For this reason, I am excited at the prospect of enhanc-ing campus excellence as a long-term member of the CAC.

CHESTER N. SCOVILLEI have been a member of the teaching staff at UTM for fifteen years; during that time, I have seen the face of the campus change greatly, as new buildings, an expanded student population, and new faculty, staff, and programs have come to enrich the life of the place. My interest in

serving on the Campus Affairs Committee stems from this long experience of UTM and from a desire to assist in guiding the ongoing growth and improvement of the campus for those who live, study, and work here.

JUMI A. SHINI have been on the CAC since its inception in 2013. I have directly experienced the changes in governance, and have made suggestions to make the new process more meaningful to us at UTM. I started here in 2002 and am now an Associ-ate Professor in Chemical & Physical Sciences. I have observed how UTM functions and gained insights into how I can contribute, whether con-cerning child care to infrastructural projects that will meet our growing needs. I have been excited by the changes over the last twelve years, and am excited by the opportunity to contribute to UTM’s future.

STEVEN SHORTI joined the faculty at UTM in 2007 and am an Associate Professor in the Department of Biol-ogy. I have always been an active participant in the governance of UTM through attendance at many UTM town hall meetings, and more recently as an elected member of the Campus Affairs Committee. I care deeply about the future of UTM and the role of its Governing Council and Standing Committees as they guide UTM’s ongoing evolution as one of Canada’s leading

universities. I would be honoured to serve as a representative of teaching staff on the Campus Affairs Committee.

GERHARD TRIPPENI have joined the UTM community over five years ago. I am teaching quantitative management courses, and in particular operations manage-ment. I hope that I can use my knowledge to contribute to the management and constructive review of the campus affairs. I have experienced a variety of different campus communities through my teaching at UTSC for two years and my ongoing teaching at the St. George campus. After being a member of the Campus Affairs Committee for nearly two years, I am hoping to continue my service to the UTM community.

ANTHONY WENSLEYI have been a member of the UTM community since 1988. I have been consistently concerned to do all I can to make UTM a welcoming and supportive environment for faculty, students and staff alike. I believe that over the years I have demonstrated my commitment to this goal and I would like to have to opportunity to continue to contribute.

BYEONG-UK KIN/A.

Questions about the UTM Campus Council elections process may be directed to the Deputy Returning Officer, Ms Cindy Ferencz Hammond (905-828-5233; cindy.ferencz@utoronto.ca) or the Chief Returning Officer, Mr. Anwar Kazimi (416-978-8427; anwar.kazimi@utoronto.ca).

Please visit http://www.governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/elections.htm

2015 University of Toronto Mississauga Campus Affairs Committee ElectionsVoting Period: Monday, February 9, 2015 at 9:00 a.m. to Friday, February 20, 2015 at 5:00 p.m.

Teaching Staff Candidates’ Statements. Voting will take place online on a website designated by the CRO.

Student Candidates’ Statements. Online voting will take place on ROSI (www.rosi.utoronto.ca).

for First Year Experience Program (Student Life), Work-Study student for undergraduate chemistry laboratory, Peer Mentor for AccessAbility, and was a member of Healthy Campus Crew. Elect me, and an effort will be made to add more Spe-cialist and Major Programs and Courses which are more specific to your interest here at UTM!

SAMIHA ZAMANAs a student, I understand the difficulties stu-dents go through in university. Many students suffer academically, and I want to help them by giving them ways of overcoming the problems they face. I want to be aware of the Academic decisions made by the university and let others

know of the decisions as well. I want to give stu-dents an opportunity to be part of the decisions taken by the university. If chosen as a member of the Academic Affairs Committee, I will make sure all decisions taken are for the betterment of both the student body and university.

8 « 02.09.2015

UTM drama turns to classical dramaDirectors Bryn Kennedy and Rachel VanDuzer bring classic play Antigone to the UTM stage

Sometimes I wonder why plays as old as Antigone are still kick-ing around and getting produced. I wonder if maybe it’s because, as peo-ple, we’ve just gotten used to having them around, or maybe it has to do with the fact that only a few ancient Greek plays—generally considered the roots of contemporary theatre—have not been destroyed. A power-ful argument for classical theatre is that the stories still speak to audi-ences, showing that people are, es-sentially, people, and that they don’t really change that much from one millennium to the next.

Directors Bryn Kennedy and Rachel VanDuzer collaborated to bring Antigone to life, using Jean Anouilh’s translation and a strik-ing aesthetic. A predominant theme in Antigone is family and relation-ships—who is related to whom, who killed whom, and what you’re going to do about it. The pull of family is so strong it’s out of human con-trol, shaped instead by the three fates and chorus members (Alma Sarai, Kyle McDonald, and Emily Clarke), who guide and manipulate the story.

The play opens with the chorus

sitting at a table, having a drink and cutting pieces of string from a ball of red yarn. The walls around them are black frames crisscrossed by red string. From there, each character is in some way tied with red string, “confined within the walls of their bloodline and the […] pull of their oppressive family ties”. Antigone (Khira Wieting) dares to cross this

age-old system in order to bury her brother, in defiance of King Creon’s orders, and she pays for her choice. But whether Antigone brings her fate upon herself or Fate inflicts it upon her is not clearly revealed.

According to the directors’ notes, Anouilh’s version of the play specifi-cally calls for spatial and temporal ambiguity. I’ve seen and studied

a lot of realistic theatre in my life, but I continue to enjoy deciphering non-literal staging and costuming. You don’t have to move a period-appropriate living room onto the stage for me to understand what’s going on. The costumes were equal-ly ambiguous, picking up on both contemporary and classical styles of dress and finding the middle

ground in between.A result of this ambiguity is that

characters formed strong, layered relationships, which I enjoyed watching develop onstage, but also allowed me to understand the lay-ered people whose lives began be-fore the play. Antigone proved a strong ensemble show, and each ac-tor had a very clear understanding of their character’s objectives. The one challenge that was sometimes apparent was the long scenes. Keep-ing lengthy conversations fresh is not an easy task.

The standout performances in-cluded Creon (Brett Houghton), Antigone, and Nurse (Victoria Dennis), all of whom brought life and energy to roles that were, espe-cially in the cases of Creon and the Nurse, quite unlike their own char-acters.

“Something that was both a chal-lenge and reward of directing An-tigone was the amount of creative licence that Jean Anouilh’s adapta-tion provides,” said Kennedy and VanDuzer. “Using this licence as an opportunity, our goal was to trans-late the specific world that we had created in our heads onto the stage.”

Antigone was part of the UTM Drama Club’s annual production and ran from February 5 to 7.

KATE CATTELL-DANIELSASSOCIATE A&E EDITOR

UTM DRAMA CLUB/PHOTO

Antigone was full of standout performances.

Mulock says metal has a place in musicLead singer of the metal band Phear, Patrick Mulock, discusses the genre’s role in the music industry

There are metal legends from the UK and the US. Ozzy Osbourne, Metalli-ca, and Iron Maiden stand out among many others. But who are Canada’s? We have always had a large metal scene in the underground of Hamil-ton, London, and Toronto. But who are our metal gods?

I’ve had the pleasure of not only hanging out with but also playing in a band with Pat Mulock, who I think is a great candidate for a Canadian metal legend. Mulock is the ex-lead vocalist of Eidolon and current vo-calist of Phear. I sat down with him to pick his brain on the music industry, metal’s place in the scene, and what it’s like to be a notable metal singer.

The Medium: What do you think of the local metal/music scene?Pat Mulock: Hamilton isn’t bad—it’s actually pretty good for metal. The scene is rising there. You really have to look for it in Toronto these days, but it is growing. Funnily enough,

I’ve noticed more and more women are coming to metal shows, which means more men show up. Montreal, which obviously isn’t really local but is worth mentioning, has a fantastic metal scene—always has.

TM: What are your thoughts on the music industry?PM: The industry has been in dis-

array—tech moves faster than the business. I mean, this shouldn’t be news to anyone, and yeah, the tech is fantastic for sure, but how do you protect the artist in this day and age? It’s very tough to make money when recording, playing, or doing anything in music, to be honest. That’s why I say have fun and write from the heart. Record labels don’t have the money

they had in the past, so it’s hard to invest in new talent, but I think inde-pendents have figured it out.

TM: Where do you think heavy met-al fits into that?PM: Well, I think having a Nickel-back and Beyoncé on your label will help you pay for your Opeth, if you get what I mean.

TM: What about metal’s place in the wider music world?PM: Well, I think metal is very un-derground and I’ve noticed that the crowd is changing. In Toronto, I’ve noticed that the bulk of people go-ing to concerts are gamer-computer-type guys showing up that I’ve never seen before. It used to be all bikers, and now it seems to be all gamers. I think that gamers want their own music; it has to be different from pop, so they’re embracing music outside of the norm. I think that Guitar Hero introduced many gamers to music.

TM: What was your favorite Eidolon moment?PM: The last show we played was at a place called the Medley in Montreal. It was sold out. We were playing with Iced Earth, Evergrey, and Children of Bodom. We just totally nailed it. It was the last Eidolon show, and it was just perfect.

LUCAS DI MASCIO

ROCKERREVIEW.COM/PHOTO

Patrick Mulock is the current lead singer for Phear.

Mulock continued on page 10

02.09.2015 THE MEDIUM ARTS» 9

One note Lawson leaves for her spouse: “Dear Victor: If you leave wet towels on the ground again I will stab you.”

Comedic dysfunction

After writing my fall exams, Jenny Lawson’s darkly hilarious memoir Let’s Pretend This Never Happened was just the pick-me-up I needed.

The story follows Lawson—widely known for her popular blog The Blog-gess—from the time she was a small child growing up in the “violently ru-ral” town of Wall, Texas right to adult-hood. Along the way, Lawson finds humour in not only her most trau-matic memories, which she is happy to share, but also in her everyday life. Unlike many other comedic books I’ve read, Lawson’s memoir seemed effortlessly funny. She just happens to have a life filled with enough dysfunc-tion to fill 300 pages.

Rather than an organized descrip-tion of Lawson’s life, the memoir is mostly a collection of anecdotes in chronological order. My favourite chapter is “A Series of Helpful Post-it Notes I Left Around the House for my Husband This Week”, in which Lawson summarizes the passive-aggressive arguments she constantly has with her spouse. One note reads, “Dear Victor, If you leave wet towels on the ground again I will stab you.”

The memoir is non-fiction, but a few events are very out of the ordinary. Among them is the time her family’s turkeys followed her to elementary school and pooped everywhere in the school’s cafeteria. Anticipating read-ers’ disbelief, Lawson also includes photos to prove how insane her life is.

Despite the memoir’s comedic tone, Lawson doesn’t skip over the more difficult problems she’s faced, such as her multiple attempts to have children and her struggle with social anxiety. But rather than dwell on the negative, Lawson overcomes her challenges with resilience—not with stories of heroism or inspiration but with ones of humour that will have you laughing at the most inappropriate of times. She can easily switch from talking about a tough personal problem to joking about all the hilariously strange job applications she encountered while working in HR.

For all her blatant swearing and liberal use of caps lock, Lawson is still a fantastic writer. In fact, Lawson’s memoir could just as easily be labelled a tragedy if it weren’t for the way she twists the tragedy into comedy, much like fellow blogger-turned-author Al-lie Brosh of Hyperbole and a Half. The book has great pacing and is written such that you can read it in one sitting.

More than anything, it was Law-son’s blunt humour and fearlessness to say the outrageous that made this book memorable. MMMM ½

KAITLYN FERNANDESSTAFF WRITER

Jenny Lawson finds humour in dark times

Fox has seen its fair share of success and growth over the past few years, the most prominent one being House, followed by less successful series such as Lie to Me and Rake. Now the cre-ators of Bones have added another intriguing entry to Fox’s lineup: Back-strom.

The plot revolves around detective Everett Backstrom (Rainn Wilson), a cynical, misanthropic, selfish, judg-mental, and misogynistic law enforcer who uses his intellect and intuition to solve cases with his crack team at the Special Crimes Unit in Portland. The series kicks off with Backstrom’s

health being assessed by a doctor to bring him back into the unit to solve a case involving the death of a sena-tor’s son. The unit includes fellow de-tectives Nicole Gravely (Genevieve Angelson), who sees good in both victims and suspects, forensics liaison Peter Niedermayer (Kristoffer Po-laha), a spiritual man, John Almond (Dennis Haysbert), Frank Moto (Page Kennedy), Backstrom’s handy-man, and Nadia Paquet (Beatrice Rosen), a civilian assisting the unit.

The case is nothing extraordinary, but Backstrom’s methods give the show an edge. He demonstrates how offensive he can get when he blatantly insults Hindus, all of India, and Native Americans all in the first few minutes.

But there are important moments where Backstrom’s backstory is hinted at, leaving room for an explanation of his mannerisms. That, and the devel-opment of the secondary characters, will you leave you wanting to know more.

Wilson’s comedic timing is also put to good use in several scenes, espe-cially those with the doctor (Rizwan Manji). For the most part, though, Backstrom reminds me of House in the way he bases his judgment on lies told by those around him and tries to keep the skeletons in his closet secret.

If you’re getting tired of watching reruns of House or are too impatient to wait for the next season of True De-tective, Backstrom is worth a try.

MAYANK SHARMASTAFF WRITER

A detective with attitude

TYLERSHIELDS.COM/PHOTO

From Dwight Schrute to Everett Backstrom.

Get your fanny to the festival

In her second year back at the U of T Drama Festival, fourth-year student Laura McCallum has teamed up with fellow fourth-year Jaime Lujan to enter their play Fanny, Fluff, and Dandruff.

McCallum returns as director (having directed Some Counterspace by Madeleine Brown last year) with Lujan as playwright. Lujan is also returning to the festival, having di-rected a piece two years ago.

“I’ve had the character of Fanny in my head for a while: someone who has a laser-like obsession—whether good or bad—that manifests into something tangible,” Lujan says. “Fanny actually exists in another play of mine and this one is sort of his creation story.”

He explained that every charac-ter in this play is forcibly changed through the circumstances they face.

“The characters in the play all suf-fer from cosmic irony—from situa-tions so specifically tragic to each of them that they (and we) can’t help but laugh,” Lujan says on why he chose the comedy genre. “Usually I fill my plays with subtle selfish jokes that are just for me, but I guess I be-came a little more generous with this one so that everybody could appreci-

ate how bleak the universe’s sense of humour is.”

Laughter is no work on the part of the audience, but it’s not always easy for the one who has to come up with material that’s both funny and pertinent. “It’s very easy to fall into the trap of caricature and play-ing for laughs,” McCallum says. “A lot of my direction is based on what I think is humour and entertaining, but if that contradicts the message of the play or the context of the scene, then it’s just surface-level humour and doesn’t really address the irony of the situation.

“It’s been hard to direct lines that are initially funny but actually have a lot of heart to them,” he adds.

The pressures of a high-stakes competition like this don’t just end at directing and writing. “In previous years, UTMDC has submitted three plays to the Drama Festival but due to a number of factors, the execs opt-ed to only submit one play this year,”

McCallum says. “UTMDC definitely shines at this event with so many stu-dents from the TDS program taking part, so there’s a reputation to live up to and an expectation that the show will take creative risks yet ultimately be an audience hit.”

McCallum believes one of the big-gest things that will resonate with a student audience in this play is the fear of change. “Each of the charac-ters is dealing with the threat that their biggest fear will become a real-ity, and I think that’s something a lot of students can identify with,” says McCallum. “We’re at a time in life where we have to confront realities about growing up, being an adult, changing bodies, changing mentali-ties, etc., so I think a younger audi-ence would connect to that.”

With curtain call being so close, both students are definitely feel-ing butterflies. “We still have props and costumes to sort out, the lights haven’t been programmed…” Mc-Callum says. “In terms of the show’s success, I’m just excited, though. It’s such a fun show to be a part of and I can’t wait to share the characters’ stories with the audience.”

The U of T Drama Festival takes place from February 12 to 14, with three plays shown each night. Fanny, Fluff, and Dandruff is being shown on Saturday, February 14.

MARIA CRUZA&E EDITOR

UTM students get ready for the U of T Drama Festival

McCallum believes one of the biggest

things that will resonate with the audience

is the fear of change.

10 «ARTS THE MEDIUM 02.09.2015

A metal star’s advice for students

TM: Let’s talk about your current band.PM: Well, Phear is gearing up for an album release by the end of February. It’ll be up on iTunes. We’re also start-ing our live prep; we want to showcase our album release and try to record a live DVD of the event. You know how our shows are going to be—lasers ev-erywhere. If you experience seizures, please close your eyes.

TM: What’s the best advice you can give to an aspiring musician?PM: Well, because of the state of the music industry, I’d say write from the heart; don’t sit there trying to write a hit. Write songs that mean something.

TM: What do you think is the most effective way to market your music?PM: Seriously, play live as often as

you can. Make sure you interact with your fans, generate Facebook likes, and just use all the social media avail-able to you.

TM: What advice can you give on touring to a band that’s never done it before?PM: Watch your habits, don’t blow all your cash, lock your van, and be nice to everyone. You never know whom you’re going to meet.

TM: Do you feel that musicians have a responsibility as role models?PM: Like anything else, there are good and bad role models. I know of musicians who volunteer to play gigs for free, give to charities, and are overall good people. I’m a father; therefore I’m a role model to my daughter. However, I believe that just because you are a rock star doesn’t mean you need to be “badass”. Don’t

let the job define what you do. Being a role model is all about the person you are—not the job you do.

TM: Who are your biggest influences?PM: As a drummer, it’s obviously Neil Peart. Although Peter Criss and Rog-er Taylor are big influences on me, too, I think. As a vocalist: Rob Hal-ford, Freddie Mercury, Bruce Dick-inson, Dennis D’Young, and Ozzy Osbourne.

TM: Any closing thoughts before we finish here?PM: Support local talent. Go see live bands and appreciate them. They want to have fun with you and fun translates. Find music that inspires and moves you and be open-minded to all music. There’s no such thing as “right” or “wrong” music; I listen to Duran Duran when I clean my house because it makes me dance.

Mulock continued from page 8

PAT MULOCK/PHOTO

Mulock gives candid advice to aspiring musicians.

Where to begin.On Wednesday, folk legend Bob

Dylan released his 36th album, Shadows in the Night, which consists of Frank Sinatra covers. I know peo-ple might think this is an odd com-bo with such a contrast between the sounds of the two artists, but Dylan isn’t trying to copy Sinatra so much as he is trying to do what folk music does: retell the stories of others.

This album is beautiful. Dylan is connecting with his listeners here; he’s being vulnerable with us, which makes this album seem more per-sonal. For me, these songs repre-sent something in Dylan that the public has never really gotten a taste of throughout his career, which is a softer, more exposed side of him. This is especially true in “Why Try to Change Me Now”, which sounds like someone confessing he is who he is and yet saying, hey, at 73 years old, why change now?

With songs like “I’m a Fool to Want You”, “Stay with Me”, “The Night We Called It a Day”, and “Au-tumn Leaves”, listeners really get a completely different side of Dylan. There are no harmonica solos, no 30-second musical interludes, just Dylan and his stories. I know these are not his stories, but to have a tale be retold and owned by such a powerful artist is something to ap-

preciate. In only 10 songs, Dylan manages to communicate his side of these stories while hinting at Sinatra’s versions.

The original songs featured big sound from Sinatra’s band, but Dylan brings quiet horns and soft electric guitar to the table, taking the songs in another direction en-tirely—tone that fits miraculously well with Dylan’s voice.

Which brings me to one of the biggest and loveliest surprises on this album: his voice. He gives these songs a persuasive grace that is so beautiful and convincing you’d think he wrote these songs himself. Dylan doesn’t strain his voice on any high or long notes, which was a problem on Tempest. In fact, this album puts to rest the argument that Dylan’s voice is too “nasal” to handle some songs, or that his voice was never as good as his lyrics. I observed this most in “Some Enchanted Evening”, “That Lucky Old Sun”, and “I’m a Fool to Want You”. This album is a wonderful treat for Sinatra and Dylan fans. His sound may be changing, but his impact on the world of music isn’t.MMMMM

Do you know that annoying sound that you hear at night when you’re trying to fall asleep, and it’s so irri-tating that you just can’t rest? It is with a very heavy heart that I tell you that that sound is Bob Dylan’s 36th album.

Yes, the father of modern Ameri-can folk music’s newest album, Shad-ows in the Night, was an unfortunate pain to listen to. It features no original

songs by the artist, but songs ranging from 1923 to 1951, all made famous by Ol’ Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra. Dylan’s album demonstrates that once you’ve turned car-bon into diamond, as Sinatra did, the task is much more difficult the second time.

I found listening to this al-bum both tedious and treach-erous. Listening to it made me want to fall asleep, but I

couldn’t, because the songs either all sounded the same or irritated me with the sound of his aging voice and the twang of the pedal steel guitar. As a lover of all genres of music—from 1920s swing to 1980s classic rock to modern music of almost any sort—I was surprised that I didn’t like this album. Dylan popularized folk, which influenced bands that I love, such as the Lumineers, Of Monsters and Men, and Mumford and Sons. How-

ever, the music that inspired those bands has been lost in the half-cen-tury that Dylan has been active.

The opening song, “I’m a Fool to Want You”, does not make a great first impression—the image I get is of an elderly drunk outside a saloon in the ol’ west serenading a young woman dancing with a man her own age. The motif of the aging singer with a nasally, raspy, unfortunately dull voice runs through the album. Thankfully, there are only 10 tracks.

Unfortunately, I can’t pick a fa-vourite song. Look at it the way you look at movies, specifically ones that have been remade. Take the Star Wars franchise. The originals were incom-parably better than the prequels. When something is good, it’s best to just take the money and run, and just leave it as it is. Dylan disrupts his own success with his unnecessary addition to the multitude of albums that he has released since 1962.What was perfected by Sinatra and other artists before, including Diana Krall, Eric Clapton, and Harry Connick Jr. (among others), was re-gretfully tampered with by this new album. Perhaps Dylan can pump out a 37th album sometime soon to reinstate his legacy and put more of his own music on display.

M

Just a shadow of Bob Dylan?Is Bob Dylan’s new album a hit or a miss?

The Medium’s Maria Cruz and Chris Antilope weigh in. MARIA CRUZA&E EDITOR

CHRIS ANTILOPEASSOCIATE A&E EDITOR

02.09.2015 » 11

“Get involved—participate!”As a first-year student, these three

words seem to follow me wherever I go at UTM.

I’ve managed to hear that state-ment countless times from upper-year students, professors, and even Principal Deep Saini during his in-troductory speech on Welcome Day. There is no escaping it.

Experience? Extracurricular ac-tivities? Research opportunities? Thoughts like these plague my mind (and probably every other UTM student’s) on a daily basis as I rush from class to class, completing as-signments and studying for my next test. But as a first-year student, what kind of research opportunities are there? Are first-year students even allowed to apply for research op-portunity programs?

Questions like these were an-swered last Wednesday at the Re-search Opportunity Program Ex-ploration Panel held exclusively for first-year students enrolled in the

2014 utmONE Scholar’s seminars. It was an opportunity to chat with ROP professors, former ROP stu-dents, and program staff about pre-vious projects and advice.

The panel consisted of Soo Min Toh of the Department of Man-agement, Sanja Hinic-Frlog of the Department of Biology, Arsalan Kahnemuyipour of the Department

of Language Studies, Jennifer Stor-er-Folt, the experiential learning officer and ROP coordinator, and fourth-year political science spe-cialist and ROP participant Murtaza

Jalali.Storer-Folt talked about the bene-

fits of participating in an ROP. Aside from the hands-on experience and exposure to ongoing research, she emphasized the importance of the professor-student relationship.

“You need to have typically two academic references, from a pro-fessor who knows you well enough to fill out a long sheet on how well you think, the quality of your work, whether you have originality of thought,” she said. “If you haven’t worked with, or at least haven’t had a large number of interactions with a professor, then you’ll have a hard time getting a faculty reference.”

Getting involved with ROPs early on opens up further future oppor-tunities such as possible work-study programs, attending conferences, published credits in research pa-pers, or future ROPs, she said.

As a previous participant, Jalali provided a firsthand perspective on the experience.

These past few weeks have been a revelation. I was able to research a cohort of UTM students whose presence was unknown to me: stu-dent parents. I believe I speak for the majority of undergraduates on campus when I say that most of us have never really considered that a number of our classmates have a lot more on their minds than tests, essays, and bar-hopping—namely, their own children.

Let me urge you to drop all no-tions that you might have accrued about young single parents from closed-minded sources like MTV. The student parents I’ve interviewed are nothing like what our society judges them to be.

In many cultures—mine in-cluded—having a child at 18 or 19 is nothing astonishing. But in the West, our generation has become creatures of road-mapping, habit, preparation, and the “one-step-at-a-time” lifestyle. But life rarely goes as planned, and when it doesn’t, we let go of the steering wheel and hold up our hands in exasperation, thinking the world is over. The three student

parents I’ve interviewed make me doubt this approach, though, be-cause all three have managed to take charge of the new direction their lives have unexpectedly taken with-out compromising their own dreams or the well-being of their children.

Patricia Clerigo is a fourth-year

UTM student in CTEP; her dream is to become a teacher. She had her son right after high school and after taking two years off, she decided to return to school.

She said that she had always known she wanted to be a mother, although her pregnancy came as a

surprise. “When I found out that I was pregnant as a very young per-son [...] It was just like no ques-tion—yeah, I’m gonna be a mother,” Clerigo says.

The support of her ex-partner, as well as her parents, was crucial in helping her regain her footing dur-

ing the months following her son’s birth. “I knew that I would have his support,” Clerigo says of her ex-partner’s attitude about her attend-ing university.

During her first few years at UTM, Clerigo was living in Toronto with her partner and child, commuting each day. “I used to wake up at like 6:30 a.m. just to get the day started, having my son be in daycare by 7:30 a.m., having to get to a 9 a.m. class,” she says.

But as a teacher candidate, she is also expected to be involved in the community through extracurricu-lars in addition to keeping on top of her schoolwork, and this all needed to be done before picking up her son from daycare at 3:30 p.m. Such tight scheduling made for a marathon ev-ery single day.

As she progressed in her degree, Clerigo discovered that she needed to take evening classes. Thus she de-cided to move closer to UTM and her husband became her son’s pri-mary caregiver, because he was the one with the “stable job”.

MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUM

Being a student parent gives a whole new importance to crossing the stage at Con Hall.

Researching alongside your professors utmONE hosts a panel discussion about the Research Opportunity Programs at UTM

PRISCILLA SUEN/THE MEDIUM

Strong relationships with your profs is key to a successful ROP application.

The secret lives of student parentsUTM students share what it means to raise a child and attend university simultaneously

VALERIA RYRAK

Parent continued on page 13

ROP continued on page 13

FARAH QAISERSTAFF WRITER

12 «FEATURES THE MEDIUM 02.09.2015

As midterm season launches, we’re suddenly hit with that icky feeling that is our own procrastination. The more we do it the worse we feel.

But lead author Leonard Reinecke from Johannes Gutenberg University at Mainz, Germany and his colleagues published an article in the Journal of Communication that explored the potential recovery benefits of media use—that is, of using it strategically instead of giving into the urge to waste time and feeling guilty.

“I sometimes procrastinate when it’s an inopportune time to do some-thing,” says Sukina Dharsi, a third-year double major in English and math.

“I’ll watch a movie to kill the time until I’m more productive. For ex-ample, if I have an afternoon off, I’ll watch a movie in the afternoon to pass the time until evening arrives. But then something will interrupt the movie, and I’ll pause it, but then I’ll be like, ‘I have to finish watching it to-night and it will cut into the evening time when I’m more productive.’ ”

“It’s like I attack myself,” says Mary Kay Briones, a third-year double ma-jor in English and psychology. “I want to relax, but then I’m telling myself, ‘No, you can’t relax, because you don’t deserve to.’ ”

The authors write, “Ego-depleted individuals may be particularly prone

to engage in negative appraisals of en-tertaining media use, perceiving it as an unjustified form of procrastination that, in turn, evokes guilt and dimin-ished recovery effects.”

The study defines ego depletion as a “temporary reduction in the self ’s capacity or willingness to engage in volitional action caused by prior ex-ercise of volition”.

“Due to their reduced self-control capacity, ego-depleted individuals show a strong tendency to give in to the desire of using media, even in situations where this desire interferes

with other goals such as finishing work or completing other important tasks,” they write.

The researchers recruited partici-pants on a popular German gaming website, 4players.de, and from psy-chology and communication classes at two universities in Germany and Switzerland. They only analyzed data from participants who had engaged in work (job or school) and had watched TV or played video games the previ-ous day.

To measure participants’ ego deple-tion, the researchers asked them to

use a scale from one (does not apply at all) to seven (fully applies) when responding to the statements “Yester-day after work/school, I felt like my willpower was gone,” and “Yesterday after work/school, I felt drained”.

They similarly measured par-ticipants’ perceived procrastination, their feelings of guilt associated with media use, whether or not this media use made them relax, and finally, their enjoyment of watching TV or playing video games.

Reinecke reports that “ego-deplet-ed participants showed a higher ten-

dency to perceive entertaining media as a form of procrastination […] Per-ceived procrastination was strongly associated with feelings of guilt.”

He goes on to say that a negative view towards entertaining media “re-duced the positive effects of media ex-posure on psychological well-being”.

So if our guilty attitude towards procrastination both makes us more likely to give in to the urge to check Facebook one more time or watch one last episode of House of Cards before studying for a test or start-ing an assignment, and yet makes us less likely to actually enjoy it, maybe allowing ourselves some controlled media time is the key.

Third-year English specialist Juli-anna Chianelli says she’s learned that taking time to relax is really impor-tant.

“At the beginning of my university experience, I had so much more en-ergy and I would just buzz through things without stopping, like a ma-chine. I feel like by the time I got to third year I was at the risk of being burnt out, exhausted both mentally and even physically,” she says. “So now this year what I’m learning to do, I’m learning to take the time to recu-perate.

“It’s within these times when I relax that I actually get great ideas. I find working out actually helps my mind have these spontaneous essay ideas,” she adds. “When I get my thesis, I’m usually writing it down on a napkin.”

MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUM

Go ahead and play another game of Bejeweled.

Just one more episode, I promiseStudy reveals that procrastination itself may not be a problem—it’s our attitude towards it

ANDREEA MIHAIASSOCIATE FEATURES EDITOR

Inequality gap grows

The recent report released on Janu-ary 19 by Oxfam, a group of almost 20 organizations working in almost 100 countries to fight poverty, re-ported that the world’s inequality gap is widening.

This gap has now become so wide, according to Oxfam’s study, that by 2016, a mere 1% of the world’s population will own 50% more wealth than the other 99% of the world.

But it’s not just wealth that has Oxfam worried. A new study by Frank Elgar et al., published on Wednesday in the peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet, shows that mental and physical health are also worse in poorer economic households. The study, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, analyzed data from El-gar’s previous World Health Orga-nization study to reach these con-clusions.

The original WHO study, “Be-haviour in school-aged children”, looked at nearly half a million children from 34 countries in Eu-rope and North America, includ-

ing Canada. These children, who were between the ages of 11 and 15, came from a mix of schooling backgrounds (public and private) and were nearly equally divided between boys and girls. These chil-dren were interviewed on three separate occasions: in 2002, 2006, and finally in 2010.

With the addition of those re-sults, Elgar and his team asked a few questions to get to understand how mentally healthy the children were based on the accuracy of their re-sponses to factual questions. Chil-dren were asked questions such as, “During the past 12 months, how many times did you travel away on holiday with your family?”, “How many computers does your family own?”, and “Do you have your own bedroom for yourself ?” They used

a scale from 0 to 4 to measure the accuracy of the results compared to information they had already col-lected about the children’s families and their occupations.

For the physical results, Elgar et al. measured the children’s body mass index, weight, and height. Just like the mental health portion of the survey, children were also asked certain questions, like “Over the past seven days, on how many days were you physically active for a total of at least 60 minutes per day?”

They found that affluent ado-lescents were more likely to be physically active than adolescents from lower-income families. The team also noted that adolescents from lower-income families re-ported suffering from more physi-cal symptoms like headaches and psychological symptoms such as irritability.

Elgar stresses that these find-ings have long-term implications. Although the participants are still children, they will become adults who face not only wealth inequali-ties, but also the danger of diabe-tes, heart problems, and potentially obesity.

Studies find worse conditions for low-income families

ARANIE VIJAYARATNAMSTAFF WRITER

The team also noted that adolescents from lower-income families reported

suffering from more physical symptoms such

as irritability.

02.09.2015 THE MEDIUM FEATURES» 13

Jalali’s first ROP was in urban for-estry, and he is currently conduct-ing a meta-analysis on hydraulic fracking for his second. He talked about how to balance ROP com-mitments with studies and what to expect.

“You’re doing the grunt work, basically the legwork of the re-search,” he said. “Which is fine, because it gives you a chance to get really familiar with the research. I’ve been reading about urban for-estry for over 18 months, so now I know a little bit about that.”

ROP courses are a Y credit that involves about 200 hours in the summer session or one to two days a week in the fall and winter ses-sions, though the commitment varies by project and professor. But there are no exams, and students

get a credit and invaluable experi-ence that is, in the words of Toh, the best way to learn.

One of Toh’s ROPs focused on how newcomers adapt to Canada and enter the workforce. Her re-

search included contacting adult learning centres in Mississauga and gathering data about these new-comers. Toh’s ROP student made about 200 calls over a three-month period. “It was arduous and defi-nitely not the easiest task to com-

plete,” says Toh. “I was really im-pressed. My ROP student worked really hard and got to see the dirty side of research—where you have to go out there and get the data.”

The panel discussed the qualities of an ideal ROP candidate. Besides good grades, emphasis was placed on motivation. For Toh, the deal-breaker is communication: appli-cants should be able to explain why they want a specific ROP.

The panellists agreed that re-search skills are not a necessity, since ROP students will master the skills along the way. On that note, Storer-Folt recommended experi-ences that develop core skills, such as time management and commit-ment, and to take part in the PART workshops offered by the Academ-ic Skills Centre.

ROP applications open on Feb-ruary 18 this year.

ROP continued from page 11

Communication is key

Parenthood teaches

When asked how early motherhood has changed her, Clerigo is prompt to reply that it has given her pur-pose and a firm sense of direction in life. “I’m doing all of this because I want to be successful and because I want to provide for my son,” she says. “Knowing that my education is benefiting him, [and] helps him grow as a person as well” keeps her motivated. “There’s a vision I have for convocation, thinking that he’ll be there, he’ll see me convocate.”

The most important lesson she has learned from her sudden leap into motherhood is that the great-est blessings often come in dis-guise. “This isn’t the path that my parents imagined for me, nor was it the path that I’ve imagined for myself,” Clerigo confesses. “But this has been the best path to have tak-en. I could not imagine not having my son.”

When asked about the stigma in our society on young mothers, Clerigo says people would often give her telling looks during her pregnancy, but she says she learned to not let that bother her because she believed in her own ability to make it work.

Clerigo is an ambitious young woman trying to balance child-rearing with the start of a career, and thus I asked her whether she believes professional women can “have it all” and combine mother-hood with a fulfilling career.

“I think women can definitely try,” she says. “As far as reaching a balance, it’s just knowing that everything you’re doing is inten-tional.”

If the message is that trying is half the battle, then the story of Na-thaniel Voll certainly confirms it. A third-year theatre and drama stud-ies specialist and English minor, Voll unexpectedly became a father shortly after high school.

“I knew that I wanted to be a fa-ther—not necessarily the way that

it panned out, but I’m so glad and so blessed to be one now,” he says.

Voll is originally from Kitch-ener and has been living on cam-pus since he started university. His three-year-old son, Ben, is being raised by his ex-partner in Kitchen-er, while Voll commutes for home on weekends. He says he relies a lot on his parents and those of his ex-partner and did so especially during the early months following Ben’s birth. “I was just a kid,” Voll explains. “I had to grow up fast.”

Voll shares Clerigo’s opinion that being a parent helps him be a better student. “It’s all about time man-agement and being able to accept help from others,” he says. Coming to UTM, Voll knew that he “needed to keep [his] priorities in check—family and school were the two big-gest things and friends had to come after.”

For Voll, the most challenging part of being a young father has been the self-doubt. “The feeling that I’m a bad dad—the feeling that I was selfish to come here, to let his mom do most of the caregiving” was something he has struggled with over the years.

Voll had to learn to justify his choice of dedicating four years of his life—years when he does not get to spend as much time with his son as he would like—to getting a university education. “It does come down to allowing other people to do things for you, to take that vil-lage and use that village in order to raise that child. I don’t want him to grow up thinking that the only

reason why I didn’t chase my dream was because I had him. I mean, what kind of message is that?”

He also takes comfort in the fact that his son will look back on what was a stressful time in his father’s life and realize the sacrifices his fa-ther made, including the two-hour trip each way by bus on his only days off to see his son.

Voll’s dream of becoming an ac-tor is as important to him as his dedication to raising his son. Here is a man who feels that contrary to what society may think, the two are not in conflict. “I want Ben to grow up with a dad whom he can aspire to be, someone who is chasing his dreams while being there for his family,” he says.

When asked about the wisdom that parenthood has brought him, Voll is quick to respond. “It’s okay to be vulnerable,” he says. “It’s okay to not be okay all the time. The big-gest thing is that just because I’m a dad doesn’t mean that I can’t make mistakes. I’m still a 21-year-old guy.”

Voll agrees that the stigma of be-ing a young single parent is alive and well. “Whenever I tell peo-ple that I’m a dad and no, I don’t live with my son full-time, people think, ‘Oh, deadbeat dad, typical male [...] shirking responsibilities.’ I think I did believe that for the first little while and it was tough to tell people that I was a father,” he says. “I was scared what they would think of me, but now I just say it be-cause it is what it is and I’m proud of it.”

Voll says his ex-partner plays a huge part in helping him cope. She was able to complete a degree in nursing while parenting Ben full-time. Voll calls her a superwoman. “If Ben’s mom wasn’t in my life, my life wouldn’t be the same. I’m so grateful for everything that she does,” he said.

The online version of this article includes an expanded section.

Parent continued from page 11

“I want Ben to grow up with a dad whom he can

aspire to be, someone who is chasing his dreams while being there for his family,”

For Toh, the deal-breaker is communcation:

applicants should be able to explain why they want

a specific ROP.

I watch my fair share of competitive food

programming—think Chopped or Top

Chef—but I’ve never entered a cooking

or recipe competition myself, whether

to a county fair or to a magazine. I sup-

pose I’ve never found one that I felt was

capable of winning, nor have I noticed an

opportunity particularly close to home.

But back in November the Depart-

ment of Student Housing and Residence

Life and UTM Dining challenged its resi-

dents to submit their favourite recipe

from home. The selected entries were

pitted against one another on the depart-

ment’s Facebook page, the winner being

the one that got the most likes. Recipes

came from across the globe, and in-

cluded borscht, oxtail rice, and peas and

peach pfannkuchen. In the end, it was

fourth-year economics student Ayesha

Nadeem’s pogaca that took the win with

113 votes.

“Having lived my entire life in a multi-

cultural community back in Saudi Arabia,

I was introduced to pogaca and absolute-

ly loved its taste, pattern, and texture,”

she says. “The reason I submitted it was

to participate for the first time in a resi-

dence-based competition and I knew this

would be an interesting one to submit,

which was evidently well received thanks

to the 100+ Facebook likes it generated.”

On that note, afiyet olsun, and enjoy the

pogaca’s cheesy goodness.

Pogaca (Turkish Cheese Pastry)

MAKES 11-12

INGREDIENTS

Dough:

• 1 sachet dry yeast

• 3¼ cup all-purpose plain flour

• 1 tsp salt

• 1/3 cup plain, whole milk yogurt

• 1 egg, beaten

• ½ cup mild olive oil or sunflower oil

• ½ cup warm milk

Filling:

• 1 cup feta cheese, crumbled

• ½ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

Topping:

• 1 egg, beaten

• sesame seeds and nigella seeds

METHOD

1. Set oven to 350 F. Grease baking tray.

2. Combine milk and yeast in small bowl;

mix well. Let stand 5 minutes, till foamy.

3. In a large bowl, stir in the flour and salt

and make a well in the middle. Add yo-

ghurt, oil, and egg to the middle of the

mixture. Stir in the yeast mixture and

knead well with your hands for a few

minutes until the dough comes together.

4. Shape the dough into a ball, place

it in the large bowl, and cover it with

cling film. Let it rise in a warm place for

45–60 minutes or until it has doubled

in size.

5. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the

feta cheese and parsley.

6. Once the dough has risen, punch it

down and divide into 11 or 12 equal

pieces, each about the size of a tan-

gerine. Roll each piece into a ball and

flatten into a circle with your fingertips,

about 10 cm in diameter.

7. Place a spoonful of the filling at one

side of the circle, leaving space near

the edges. Fold the circle over to cover

the filling and form a half-moon shape.

Press down with your fingertips to seal

the dough closed.

8. Place the stuffed dough on the greased

tray. Repeat steps 7 and 8 with the rest

of the dough pieces.

9. Brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle

with the seeds. Bake on the middle rack

until golden brown.

FULL-TIME UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, CONSTITUENCY I(Faculty of Arts and Science, University of Toronto Mississauga, University of Toronto at Scarborough)

CONNOR ANEARI am seeking election as a Student Governor because I am passionate about governance and believe my strong background in student leadership makes me well suited to the position. Through leadership roles, including my current role as Male Head of College at Trinity College, I have had myriad opportunities to work with students, faculty, alumni, campus administrators, and Governing Council to make policy decisions and create positive change in areas like student representation, equity, and residence admissions. Thus, I believe I have the skills, knowledge, and enthusiasm necessary to be an excellent Student Governor. I would sincerely appreciate your vote. http://connoranearforgoverningcouncil.wordpress.com/

DALAL BADAWIAs a Political Science student, I look at the world and hope to one day be able to change it for the better. Since the beginning of my university career, I have balanced my job, my involvement in University College affairs, volunteering and my education. I am courageous and confident in my decisions in those areas and I carefully consider their implications before making them. I try to be very conscious of how students feel at University of Toronto and am now hoping to use to my determination, courage and empathy to represent my fellow students in the Governing Council. URL: https://www.facebook.com/VoteDalalBadawi

SASHA BOUTILIERI am a second year St. Michael’s College student specializing in Political Science. I am involved in numerous campus organizations and lead the club AFTER U of T, which seeks to help students plan for their futures beyond U of T. On Governing Council, I will advocate for continued action to address sexual violence, for greater institutional support of student co-curricular activities and career development, and for U of T to take leadership as the first university in Canada to divest from fossil fuels. With my co-candidate Victoria Wicks, I hope we will have your support in representing your interests. URL: https://www.facebook.com/events/425024714320997

ADITYA CHAWLAMy name is Aditya Chawla, and I am delighted to be running for the Governing Council as a full-time undergraduate student at the St. George campus. Two years ago, I entered this university in appreciation for its vivid history and esteemed international stature. During my time here, I have had the privilege of working with many students who work exceptionally hard to foster an enriching academic community. We will face many challenges and big decisions this new year, and so I will strive to keep the best interests of undergraduate students in mind.URL: www.adityachawla.me

SUSAN CUIHello Everyone, I am a third year undergraduate full-time student double majoring in International Relations and Economics. Just a few months ago, I had the honour of being part of the Vic Orientation Committee 2014; and currently I am the President of UTFOLD as well as the Campus Organizations Assistant within Ulife/Ulead Office. My platform is as thus:1. Advocate for the decrease in student tuition fee interest.2. Continue the fight for International Student status within Governing Council.3. Advocate for additional resource support for campus groups.Let me become the governor that represents you. Vote for me.

KRISTIAN KOSCHANYMy name is Kristian Koschany. I am an undergraduate student of geophysics at the St. George campus and an ardent supporter of the University of Toronto – a place very dear to my heart. The university is a second, or first, home to so many of us students; it fosters friendships through social interaction and community, it builds knowledge through its world-class education, and makes us tougher with its (sometimes intense) difficulty. I want to give back to this amazing institution by serving on its Governing Council. Please elect me and let me do just that. MARC MARLO LAURINThe University of Toronto is Canada’s oldest, largest, and highest ranked university. Therefore it is no simple task of upholding our reputation, delivering superior education and also ensuring opportunities for learning and personal growth are available to all students, regardless of status, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexual identity or disability. I will ensure the interests of all students are represented when advocating on the issues that affect us. I seek to engage the community and promote positive change through involvement, awareness

and progressive action. My hope is that every student can enjoy their educational experience here at the University of Toronto.

RIDWAN OLOWHey my name is Ridwan Olow. I am running for Governing Council because I believe I am a strong student voice. I have fought for student rights on many levels, and I am ready for the challenge. I invite you to give me your voice. Vote Ridwan.

VICTORIA WICKSAs former Associate Comment Editor at The Varsity, I’m knowledgeable of various student interests and am committed to an equitable, accessible learning environment. This means I’ll advocate for 1) more transparent, meaningful action to combat sexual violence on campus; 2) increased institutional and financial support of students’ career development; and 3) ensuring a sustainable campus, via fossil fuel divestment. I would also create an interactive social media account, to encourage accountability and keep students involved in the decision making process. I hope my co-candidate Sasha and I will have your support. http://tiny.cc/VicAndSasha4GC

LAWRENCE ZHANGHEY EVERYONE. I’m Lawrence Zhang, and I’m going to improve the university for you. My entire campus experience has been centred around making the lives of those around me better, and I want to extend my reach just a little bit more. Together, you and I can make a difference by advocating for lower international student tuition, less grade deflation, and greater availability of research opportunities. That’s not all I care about though -- your vision is my vision, so please don’t hesitate to contact me at any time about absolutely anything. www.votelawrence.com

FULL-TIME UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, CONSTITUENCY II (Professional Faculties)

FAIZAN AKBANIHello everyone. I hope you’re all off to a great new year and have an exciting semester ahead. It was my utmost pleasure to serve as the Mechanical representative on the Engineering Society this year. Being a part of EngSoc provided me with a deeper understanding of the problems we face as students. It has also been an incredible experience in governance. But now it’s time for change. It’s time to expand our horizons and represent

2015 GOVERNING COUNCIL ELECTIONSStudent Candidate Statements

Please visit http://www.governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/elections.htm

Voting Period: Monday, February 9, 2015 at 9:00 a.m. to Friday, February 20, 2015 at 5:00 p.m.Online voting will take place on ROSI (www.rosi.utoronto.ca), and through a secured website for post

graduate medical trainees.

the student body on a larger platform. I’m excited to work with fellow student leaders and the Governing Council to mould a brighter future.

VIKKI BEKIARISAs an active fourth year student in the Concurrent Teachers’ Program for Kinesiology and Physical Education, I will be a strong voice for professional students at Governing Council. As current President of the Greek Students’ Association and former Executive of the KPEUA Social Committee, I have been involved in social and academic aspects of the student experience. I want to ensure that professional students have access to more inclusive academic policies including grading and academic accommodations as well as better access to elective programs for those who want to pursue interdisciplinary study. On February 9-20 vote VIKKI BEKIARIS on ROSI.www.facebook.com/votevikki

MATHIAS MEMMELAs the Co-President of the Faculty of Music Undergraduate Association, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting students from all colleges and disciplines and I’ve had the privilege of working with my fellow leaders on issues relating to equity, disclosure and accountability over the last three years. I’ve been a student of the Faculty of Arts and Science and a Professional Faculty and I can say that the Professional Faculties are a unique experience at U of T that is worthy of preservation. As a representative, I will be resolved to provide active stewardship and advocacy for the benefit of Pro-Facs.

AVINEET (VINNY) RANDHAWAThere really isn’t much that can be said in statements like this, so I’ll keep it short and meaningful. Although our faculty rivalries are fun, UofT is very decentralized so I’ll advocate injecting more effort into creating more campus-wide events and the like. And, although you’re probably tired of hearing this by now, I’ll ensure every engineer and professional program has a voice on the campus-wide scale. Finally, being from Vancouver, you can believe I’ve got a vested interest in ensuring campus-life is as great as it can be. Thanks for voting!

RIAZ SAYANI-MULJIAs an active student in UT Law, I believe Governing Council needs to emphasize affordability and accessibility. We’ve seen massive tuition rises over the last 20 years, with no end in sight. In addition to the financial burden and corresponding mental health effects, high tuition fees constrain which fields professional students enter upon graduation, as serving the public good becomes less feasible with our debt load. With my experience in student politics and advocacy organizations, I have the tools to effectively represent students across all three UofT campuses at Governing Council. Vote RIAZ for Governor from Feb 9-20 on ROSI.www.facebook.com/voteriaz

ANDREW WATTGreetings Constituency Two. I have been a surgical trainee at U of T since 2008, and have extensive committee experience within the Faculty of Medicine. During residency I have also assisted with the development of educational material at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level. As a medical student I was the Vice President of the Student’s Union. My areas of interest lie in professional regulation and professional responsibility, and as a constituency of future professionals I believe that our voice at Governing Council is both a unique and important one. As your representative I will ensure that it is heard. URL: see me on LinkedIn

GRADUATE STUDENTS, CONSTITUENCY I (Humanities and Social Sciences)

SANDY HUDSONAs an OISE student studying social justice education, I want Governing Council to prioritize students. I will advocate to remove financial barriers to education & to improve the quality of education (smaller class sizes, job security for TAs). I will support lobbying for government funding (especially in humanities & social sciences), and promote an inclusive campus. I will push for meaningful student input in all university initiatives, including the development of strategies on mental health and combating sexual violence. I support divesting tuition fee dollars from fossil fuels and other unethical investments. Feb 9-20 on ROSI, vote Sandy Hudson. www.facebook.com/sandy4GC

AKBAR KHURSHIDMy esteemed peers at the University of Toronto. There is a reason why we hold a prestigious rank in the world and that reason is all of you and your voices. I seek your support in my candidacy for the Governing Council. I have always found the idea of making campaign promises pedantic and dishonest. Instead as your representative, my platform is your platform. I eagerly look forward to implementing the ideas of graduate students. I can be reached at: akbar.khurshid@mail.utoronto.ca. Akbar Khurshid is the candidate of honesty, transparency and action. I look forward to your decision.

ERIC LAVIGNEMy foremost goal is to provide Council with the perspectives of graduate students from the Social Sciences and the Humanities, ensuring its capacity to make decisions in the best interest of the University. My previous working experience as Associate Dean in three higher education institutions has provided me with key insights into the workings and the needs of colleges and universities. Furthermore, my education has covered the fields of accounting, management and strategic planning; additional tools that I can leverage effectively on the Governing Council. http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/eric-lavigne/8/a4b/44

NIRMALAN VIJEYAKUMARI would be honoured to serve on the Governing Council as your Governor representing Graduate Students. I am a Master’s in Public Policy Candidate, with a B.A. (Hons.) in Legal Studies from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario. I have worked in a variety of positions from Chairing a disciplinary committee to volunteering for CIUT 89.5FM. I would like to serve as your Governor as I have a consortium of skills and experience that would add a different perspective to critical issues before Council. For more information I encourage you to visit my website at www.nirmalan4governor2015.com

GRADUATE STUDENTS, CONSTITUENCY II(Physical and Life Sciences)

ERIKA DALEYThe University of Toronto became my new home last May as I began my PhD in inorganic chemistry. As your graduate student representative I hope to influence positive change and improvements throughout the university, with your suggestions and concerns in mind. It is particularly important to have informed, prepared stewards in the academic, strategic, and financial decision-making process for the university. I believe that my extensive involvement in a number of organizations throughout the university and in the community have provided invaluable experiences that I can channel into this position. PLEASE VOTE ERIKA DALEY. To learn more visit http://erikadaley.wix.com/erikadaley

ALEX IVOVICAs a fourth-year PhD student, I have been elected as Graduate Students’ Union Representative for the Physiology Department and Internal Liaison Officer for CUPE 3902, where I keep members informed and engaged, and advocate on their behalf. I support fair grading practices, more opportunities for teaching assistantships, increased graduate funding, and better student services. Through my involvement with the Canadian Diabetes Association, I lobby for better healthcare policies on the provincial and national level. These experiences have given me strong leadership, communication and organizational skills. On ROSI from February 9-20, vote Alex for your Division III/IV representative on Governing Council. www.facebook.com/votealex4gc

Questions about the Governing Council elections process may be directed to the Chief Returning Officer, Mr. Anwar Kazimi (416) 978-8427; anwar.kazimi@utoronto.ca), or the Deputy Returning Officer, Mr. Patrick F. McNeill (416) 978-8428; patrick.mcneill@utoronto.ca

The two Part-time Undergraduate seats have been acclaimed.

NOTICE OF ELECTIONS:The University of Toronto Students’ Union is governed by a Board of Directors elected by you.

Our campaigns and services are also shaped by you. Our aim is to provide services that save you money, provide advocacy to improve your education and to enrich your university experience.

To be eligible for a position, you must be a member of the University of Toronto Students’ Union in the appropriate constituency.

For more information, please email cro@utsu.ca.

Please note: Executive Committee positions are full-time. The University of Toronto Students’ Union policies require that you cease to be a full-time student should you be successfully elected.

To run for a position, pick up a nomination package during the nomination period at the University of Toronto Students’ Union office. Please keep in mind these dates and deadlines:

Executive Committee Positions:

Board of Director Positions:

Nomination period start:

SEATS

SEATS

Nomination period end:

President

Vice-President Equity

Vice-President External

Vice-President Internal & Services

Vice-President University Affairs

ONE (1)

ONE (1)

ONE (1)

ONE (1)

ONE (1)

TWO (2)

ONE (1)

THREE (3)

THREE (3)

ONE (1)

TWO (2)

TWO (2)

THREE (3)

TWO (2)

ONE (1)

ONE (1)

THREE (3)

ONE (1)

ONE (1)

ONE (1)

ONE (1)

ONE (1)

ONE (1)

ONE (1)

Arts & Science At-Large Director

Innis College Director

New College Director

St. Michael’s College Director

Trinity College Director

University College Director

Victoria College Director

Woodsworth College Director

Professional Faculty At-Large Director

Faculty of Architecture, Landscape & Design Director

Faculty of Dentistry Director

Faculty of Engineering Director

Faculty of Law Director

Faculty of Medicine Director

Faculty of Music Director

Faculty of Nursing Director

Faculty of Pharmacy Director

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education Director

Toronto School of Theology Director

WE ARE HOLDING OUR SPRING ELECTIONS FOR THE FOLLOWING POSITIONS:

FEBRUARY 26, 2015 – 10:00 A.M. MARCH 13, 2015 – 5:00 P.M.

VOTING PERIOD: MARCH 24, 25 & 26 – 9:00 A.M. – 6:30 P.M.

Any fan of professional sports be-gins to notice a pattern among athletes during interviews. The lan-guage seems recycled, every athlete talking about either how well the team is doing and what they need to continue doing, or why the team is struggling and where they need im-provement.

There is a script that is followed, a formula that allows athletes to mould their answers into generic, vague statements about the state of their team regardless of the ques-tion. This script is a way to prevent athletes from speaking off the cuff about how they truly feel about their organization and going against their management’s wishes.

The athletes themselves do not de-velop these answers. Before meeting with the media, athletes are briefed by team staff who instruct them on what points they should touch on during interviews and what to avoid. This is known as “media training” and is a necessary part of any ath-lete’s experience at the professional

level. With the social media–inun-dated culture we live in, athletes at all levels are being trained to portray an appropriate public persona.

The media and athletes often ask the same questions and receive the same answers. Many of those who work for various publications are aware of this and are content to use the same recycled lines, but when athletes do go off the script, there is plenty of value to be found.

Take the recent downward spiral the Leafs find themselves in. During a recent interview with Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston, Phil Kessel spoke rather candidly about the state of the team and his realization that the team does not have an answer for why they go into long slumps nor do they know how to get out of them. It was a rare moment of honesty from a pro athlete that caused media in Toronto to take a step back just to

process what occurred: an athlete spoke truthfully for once and didn’t mask their answer through a thick layer of vagueness. It was refreshing to hear Kessel say what was on many Leafs fans’ minds, and the interview became a news story of its own.

In today’s culture, athletes are treated as celebrities and are regard-ed for their opinions. Their perspec-tives on things have become impor-tant even when they have little to do

with their roles as athletes. They are often asked to comment on world events. It’s for this reason that media training comes in handy. Not only do their comments affect the ath-lete’s own reputation, but they affect the organization they belong to and their owners and sponsors.

Of course it can go awry, as in the case of Seattle Seahawks’ Marshawn Lynch, whose unhappiness at being asked to speak on media day result-ed in him simply not answering any of the questions he was asked. But for the most part, it lets the organi-zation breathe easy knowing their athletes aren’t using their celebrity to go against the brand.

That includes those who play for varsity teams at U of T.

For post-game interviews or pro-files, student athletes receive brief-ers from varsity staff before meeting with the media to get a sense of what points they should and shouldn’t touch on. “We get a simple reminder of what things should and shouldn’t be said, but I feel like it is mostly common sense on our part as adults and varsity athletes,” says varsity soccer player Claudia Piazza.

Tom Brady broke the sports world two weeks ago like Ellen broke Twit-ter during last year’s Oscars. Brady isn’t just the face of the New England Patriots or NFL, but also one of the most inspiring athletes we’ve seen over the past couple of decades. He’s up there with athletes like Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, and Muhammad Ali. Interestingly, they all have something else in com-mon, and it’s not the fistful of cham-pionship rings or titles won but the controversy.

When you’re on top of the world like Brady is, the media will find ways to bring you down. But there isn’t much that can kill the husband of Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bund-chen. Brady battled incredibly hard to become the starting quarterback at U of Michigan, an institution that cares more about football than edu-cation—they have 110,000 fans for every home game. After college, he was chosen as the last pick in the final round of the 2000 NFL draft. Begin-ning his career as a backup quarter-back, he persevered like he had in

many other circumstances and won the Super Bowl during his first tilt as a starting quarterback.

Talk about adversity and capability.The Sunday before last, Brady won

his fourth Super Bowl in just his sixth appearance. Super Bowl XLIX wasn’t

his first rodeo. You think Deflategate would have diminished the mental toughness of arguably the greatest quarterback of all time? I don’t think so.

All of Deflategate happened be-cause Brady threw an interception to

D’Qwell Jackson, a defender for the Indianapolis Colts. Jackson noticed the ball was squishier than he was used to, and when officials weighed the ball, they found that New Eng-land produced balls for the AFC Championship that had been reduced

by two pounds per square inch from the official 12.5–13.5 required.

After that the sports world explod-ed, blaming Brady and head coach Bill Belichick for organizing a cheat-ing scheme. If it wasn’t Belichick, it would have to have been Brady who convinced his equipment guy and teenaged ball boys to take air out of the balls, which he wanted to fit his grip more comfortably. Belichick and Brady repeatedly said over the past two weeks that they “knew nothing about the claims we’re being accused of ”, and during the game nobody within the Patriot’s organization could feel any difference in the ball’s air pressure.

While millions of fans accused Brady of cheating after the 45-7 romping of the Colts, the only people that seemed to come to the defence of him and the Patriots were, oddly enough, the Colts. Indianapolis cor-nerback Dwayne Allen weighed in on the situation, writing in a tweet, “They could have played with soap for balls and beat us. Simply the bet-ter team.”

JASON COELHOSPORTS EDITORWITH NOTES FROMERIC HEWITSONASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR

02.09.2015 » 17

What athletes say under the gun

It takes more than Deflategate

The media training given to pro and varsity athletes makes interviews safer but blander

Tom Brady may or may not be guilty, but it doesn’t stop him from winning Super Bowls

MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUM

REVIEWERDISCRETION.WORDPRESS.COM/PHOTO

This tweet has been pre-approved by management.

It might be easier to carry, but it’s not really fair.

ERIC HEWITSONASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR

Media continued on page 19

Deflate continued on page 19

18 «SPORTS THE MEDIUM 02.09.2015

Eagles lay down the law on WoodsworthUTM takes top spot after a dramatic, drawn-out basketball game that keeps enemies out of playoffs

On Wednesday night, the UTM Eagles took the court against U of T Law for UTM’s final game of the sea-son in Division 1 basketball action. The Eagles came into the game with a near-perfect 9-1 record, coming off a hard-fought win against the second-place Woodsworth team. U of T Law was 2-8 and fighting for a playoff position coming into Wednesday night’s game. Having already secured a playoff position, UTM was only looking to take the top spot in the standings.

As the game began, it was clear

that both teams had come to win. UTM took the opening tipoff and opened the game with a bucket and foul, and Law responded in a similar fashion to make the score 3-3 early in the game. UTM had an organized attack and scored sev-eral baskets, but Law was keeping a strong possession and forcing UTM into fouls. At the five-minute mark, Law sunk two free throws to tie the game up at 10-10. Afterwards, Law seemed to tire out, and the Eagles took advantage of it, scoring four straight baskets to secure an 18-10 lead.

However, Law did not back down

and continued forcing UTM into fouls until they brought the score back to 18-14. The Eagles respond-ed with a couple of baskets, but Law had found a groove and nearly closed the gap, forcing UTM to call a timeout leading by just 23-21.

The Eagles returned with re-newed vigour and started with a quick three-point shot. They were clearly refreshed, moving the ball around quickly, scoring baskets on fast breaks, and getting three straight steals to rack up a 31-21 lead. But Law turned around again and scored a couple of three-point-ers to tie it at 31-31. After this, the game became very tight, UTM scor-ing off several steals and fast breaks and Law responding with free throws. The half ended with UTM getting blocked and Law getting a free throw to tie the game once more at 41-41.

The second half began at a much slower pace than the first, both teams focusing on their defensive play. After two minutes of pres-sure, Law broke the deadlock with

a three-point shot, and UTM im-mediately responded with one of their own. The pace remained slow, but UTM’s foul troubles kept com-ing back, giving up several oppor-tunities recklessly and allowing Law a 48-45 lead. UTM responded with a quick bucket and foul to tie the game up once again at 48-48. This was followed by four scoreless minutes during which both teams looked tired.

UTM once again broke the dead-lock on a fast break, and started tak-ing advantage of Law’s short bench. The exhausted Law players could not contain the speedy Eagles, and after several more steals and transi-tion baskets, UTM had put together a 58-50 lead. Law continued fight-ing, but they were no longer a match for a more motivated UTM team, who continued to take advantage of any and every fast break, bringing the lead to a compelling 64-55.

There was no stopping the Eagles in the endgame—an acrobatic re-bound gave them another basket and the cheers of the small crowd

that had come to watch. Law re-sponded with a three-pointer, but UTM kept laying on the transition points and brought the score to 70-58. Law put in one last effort in the final minute of play, scoring anoth-er basket, but the Eagles did not let up, and ended the game with a final steal and basket to earn a 76-61 win.

This win secures the top spot for the UTM Eagles and gives them the best possible playoff draw.

The fans are excited that the team has been so successful this season. “It’s awesome to see the team win-ning so much; they just always find a way to get the job done,” says Wesley Fabroa, a first-year UTM student. “I can’t wait until playoffs, when they face the best teams in the league. Those will be some fun games to watch.”

UTM has next week off as the other teams finish their regular sea-sons. The Eagles return to action in three weeks for a semi-final game against the fourth seed of the divi-sion.

FACEBOOK.COM/UTMATHLETICS/PHOTO

An Eagles player demonstrates the chops the team has displayed in not only making it to the playoffs, but also seizing the top spot in the standings.

ADAM PENKUL

Piazza adds that interviews are not the main area of focus for media training at U of T—instead, new light is being shed on social media and how stu-dents should monitor their profiles.

With social media allowing ath-letes to connect directly with their fans, media trainers hope to ensure that everyone keeps a tight rein on their online persona.

As UTM student and varsity bas-ketball player Manny Sahota says, U of T varsity sports is no different from any other pro sports organization in how it handles its athletes. “I have re-ceived training from the varsity staff on dealing with the media as well as how to use social media while being cognizant of our position as student athletes,” says Sahota.

The training takes place at the start of every school year and is mandatory for all varsity athletes. “It’s definitely

helpful,” he says. “It gives you useful tips on how to better represent your-self and the university without having the media misconstrue your words or intended message.”

The tips Sahota and other athletes learn during the training include not answering any questions they don’t have an answer to, carrying them-selves in a polite and respectful man-ner, and “being a reflection of the uni-versity and its values”.

“I think that dealing with media ef-fectively and appropriately is vital, es-pecially in our culture dominated by technology,” says Sahota. “The trans-fer of information through post-game interviews or tweets can become widespread so quickly that we really need to be vigilant with our words and actions.”

Nowadays athletes have difficulty monitoring online behaviour. Take Evander Kane of the Winnipeg Jets, a player whose off-ice “punk” antics

landed him in disagreements with his teammates when he didn’t show up to last week’s game on time and was dressed inappropriately. The reason his case was taken seriously and not dismissed was the reputation Kane made for himself with his question-able posts on Instagram.

Kane posted multiple pictures on-line of himself holding stacks of mon-ey. These pictures were in reference to boxer Floyd “Money” Mayweather, who posted similar pictures, but since many who saw these pictures were unaware of the tribute he was paying, Kane was branded as a classless brat by hockey analysts across the board.

Varsity Blues manager of events and marketing Mary Beth Challoner says this new form of media training is extremely educational for students, whether or not they’re athletes, since it teaches them about the importance of being cautious of what you post online.

“The training is an important edu-cational opportunity and teaching moment about those pitfalls, what to look out for and how this tool can negatively affect someone now and in the future,” she says.

According to Challoner, the train-ing consists of “continual conversa-tion” with varsity staff to monitor how athletes portray themselves.

Blues football player Anthony Nac-carato says that doesn’t always hap-pen. “We only have a meeting at the beginning of the year, but other than that I have full confidence everyone in this room knows the right things to say when asked a question about the team,” he says.

Challoner stresses that the train-ing gives the Varsity Blues organiza-tion an opportunity to teach students about their role in the larger program and how their actions have a “trickle-down” effect on their team, coaches, the program, and even their family.

02.09.2015 THE MEDIUM SPORTS» 19

Social media, squeaky clean

Bill Nye calls out Bill Belichick’s science

At the end of the week, Belichick held a press conference claiming they con-ducted an in-house study regarding what they believed happened that day of the game. They claim that sub-zero temperatures, rainfall, and domi-nant Gronkowski touchdown spikes caused the balls to lose air pressure.

He was dubbed “Bill Belichick the Science Guy”, a title that prompted

a response from Bill Nye, who dis-missed the head coach’s science as nonsensical. Well, whatever. I side with Belichick, since I’m a Patriots fan and Bill Nye is too old for me anyway.

Luckily, a scandal like this will likely never hit the Varsity Blues—no-body in the locker room even touches the ball before the game, and referees have their hands on the balls at all times.

“Surprisingly no, they just give

you like 20 brand-new balls each game. I prefer a little less deflated. I can’t lie, they’re easier to grip,” says fifth-year quarterback Simon Nassar. “Throughout the game you notice the balls get a little easier to handle.”

The Patriots still haven’t been con-victed of breaking a rule, but if they are, they could face some conse-quences. They would be obligated to forfeit draft picks from the upcoming 2015 draft and pay hefty fines.

Even if Brady did doctor the balls, how much of a difference would it make? They still played with offi-cial NFL footballs. Brady shouldn’t be bullied for doing something he probably didn’t do for the purpose of cheating.

And hey, we all marvelled at his brilliance and passion for the game in last Sunday’s Super Bowl when he deftly deflated the Seattle Seahawks and their dynamic defence.

Media continued from page 17

Deflate continued from page 17

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