Volume 57 Issue 11

PreZ Candidates (2) Student Activism (4) Smell Ya Later (7) Writing Unpaid (8) Study Habits (10) Strand Libs (15) VICTORIA UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER VOL. 56 ISSUE 11 • MARCH. 23 2013 • WWW.THESTRAND.CA

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populist politics

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protest and pet peeves

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drama vs. documentary

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expectations in tv

Hot news for thawing out...

SARALI FOROUZANFAR (VUSAC COMMUTER COMMISSIONER) AND BENJAMIN FARMER-LACOMBE (VIC FENCING CLUB HEAD) Why are you running for VUSAC president?

We’ve been involved students at Vic since orientation week of our first year. We feel deeply motivated to contribute to the community that has fostered our education for the last three years. Moreover, with lots of experience running clubs, events, etc. around campus, we feel very competent and comfortable in the idea of leading VUSAC. We have great ideas, big and small, on how to improve the student life experience and want to bring these into action. In running for co-presidency, we hope to enrich the Vic community and help it grow in an even better direction!

Why are you running as co-presidents?

We’ve had the chance to work together in the past with great results. Our complementary attitudes and work ethics create a dynamic and responsive unit. As previous presidents have testified, the role of president can be extremely demanding. By leaning on each other, we hope to be effective leaders throughout the entire year without having to sacrifice our academic endeavours.

(Two heads are better than one!)

In which areas can VUSAC be most improved?

We believe VUSAC should be made more approachable to Vic students. In order to have students interested in student politics, not only should VUSAC be more open, but also more receptive to student ideas and concerns.

Through the modernization of the VUSAC website, as well as other small adjustments, we hope to keep students more directly involved in student politics and, ultimately, to empower them as individuals.

SaraLi: How has your experience as Commuter Commissioner prepared you to take on a presidential role?

The Commuter Commissioner portfolio is extremely diverse, and, having completed my constitutional duties and going even further, I believe I’ve shown the ability to dedicate myself to my job and work hard. This role has prepared me to know the inner workings of VUSAC, giving a balance between my partner, Ben, who has external views of VUSAC. Balancing student council, academics, and my own social life has worked out extremely well this year and I think I’m ready to take on more.

As CommComm, I’ve had direct contact with students and administration, enabling me to bring forth student voices and work together with admin. Being completely integrated with the Vic community, learning so much from this year on VUSAC, I believe that I am ready for the position of co-president.

Benjamin: What past experiences do you have that qualify you for the presidential role?

My experience with VUSAC has been more practical than most other candidates. I have never held office in VUSAC; rather, my interactions with it have been as both a Vic student and a club head. As such, I feel that I have a much more cynical and critical view on the role that VUSAC does and [how it] should operate at Vic. As we are running as a co-presidency, I believe my unique experience with VUSAC (among presidential candidates) will help me and SaraLi form an advantageously open-minded duo.

ENXHI KONDI (VUSAC VICE PRESIDENT OPERATIONS) Why are you running for VUSAC president?

I am running for president because it has been my goal since my very first involvement in VUSAC two years ago, and I have already been preparing myself accordingly, so I am confident that I am the best person for the job.

What do you think makes you stand out from your fellow candidates?

Well, I’m the only person running as an individual president! More seriously, though, I am also the candidate with the most relevant experience to the president role.

I’m also the only candidate who has already made considerable progress on most parts of my platform, so not

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only am I in the ideal position to work on these issues, but Victorians can also have confidence in my ability to actually do what I set out to do.

In which areas can VUSAC be most improved?

Advocacy, support, and accountability are VUSAC’s weakest points. Not enough social justice advocacy campaigns are run by VUSAC, or even endorsed, and there is a lack of focus on these types of issues in general. VUSAC also needs to work on supporting clubs and levies at Vic and supporting campaigns and groups at Uof T in general, both by means of manpower but also [by] raising awareness. Lastly, VUSAC needs a system in place to hold its members accountable by the Vic student body. When VUSAC members start the year with particular goals that they hope to accomplish, the student body should be able to routinely check their progress and openly address concerns or suggestions.

How has your experience as VPO prepared you for a presidential role?

Being that the VPO role is inclusive of both council management, as well as clubs management, my workload has been that of two people, essentially, so I am prepared to take on the presidential workload at this point.

The other candidates are touting a quantity of joint experience, but I, even as one person, can both match their quantity and surpass their quality. Being vice president this year—especially being the only vice president for the entire summer—I have taken on numerous of the presidential duties already, either to alleviate [pressure on] the current president or simply out of ambition. I have worked closely with the president on all types of issues, including the UTSU politics and the Dean’s Office discussions, so I have a strong background of knowledge of Vic operations and the president’s role.

LYNN HONG

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MEET THE CANDIDATES

BENJAMIN ATKINS (VUSAC FINANCE CHAIR) AND GABRIEL ZOLTAN-JOHAN (VUSAC CHAIR) Why are you running for VUSAC president?

Benjamin: Simply put, I want to help make people’s lives better. I feel that VUSAC is full of potential to be a great student advocacy and resource hub for Victorians, but that it isn’t quite yet. I am running because I feel that my experience, my passion, and my ideas, combined with Gabe’s, will best help this cause. I love my college, and I plan on leading a government that best harnesses the energy of Vic and puts it towards building something: a more relevant student government, a more consultative student government, and a student government that actually improves the lives of Victorians. Our goals are ambitious, but they are worth fighting for and are matched only by the scope of our experience and the depth of our vision.

Gabriel: I am running because I know Vic can get better.

Here at Vic, we have so many clubs, levies, and associate groups that make student life so vibrant for the people

who attend this university, and contributing to that in any way makes me fulfilled. Knowing that the 3000+ Vic students each have their own place in the community is both calming and extremely satisfying. Being co-president [would allow] me to facilitate the amazing creativity and passion that all Victorians have and help direct it to greater ends for this college. I believe the ideas that Ben and I have, coupled with Vic’s unrelenting desire to improve, will help all Victorians achieve their potential and have all Victorians feel fulfilled and welcome in our community.

Why are you running as co-presidents?

We feel that our skillsets complement each other completely. Ben has the knowledge of clubs and levies, as well as finances, that is unmatched by any other candidate. When it comes to the workings of Vic student life, Ben is the most capable of all candidates in addressing initiatives based on that. Gabe, on the other hand, is the more externally focused of us two. His knowledge in external affairs and Vic in the wider Uof T community is unparalleled, and he has the ability to keep Vic on the right track in regards to Vic-UTSU relations in the lead-up to the UTSU’s October deadline for by-law submission. His experience as Chair of VUSAC also fills in the gaps of knowledge internally for Ben; Gabe knows the ins and outs of council. Even further, we have an extremely close friendship and working relationship which has spanned three years, and therefore creates an aspect of mutual respect and trust that leads us to have more efficient and effective work on all of our initiatives.

In which areas can VUSAC be most improved?

VUSAC needs an overhaul in its methods of transparency and communication. This overhaul on communication includes changing the website and its subdivisions, creating a master calendar, and having a more prominent presence on social media. On transparency, we want VUSAC members attending more non-VUSAC events and collaborating more with clubs and levies (see: Sustainability Commissioner and the Board Games Club co-ordinating a tea-making workshop). We also want committee transparency; as it stands, there is no way to check who is attending or not attending the committees where policy and procedure are forged.

Benjamin: How has your experience as Finance Chair prepared you for a presidential role?

Sole personal responsibility over VUSAC’s bank account ties me directly to our success as an organization. I have the most concentrated and important responsibility of any council member (excluding Rowan) with regards to how much impact my decisions have and how directly I control policy and execution. We only have one person responsible for VUSAC’s finances. The fact that I have all of these responsibilities prepares me immensely well to take on an equally comprehensive role [as president].

Gabriel: How has your experience as Chair prepared you for the presidential role?

My two years as Chair of VUSAC have been especially fulfilling for three reasons. Firstly, it gave me an intimate role as an advisor to two different presidents, which has granted me experience that helps me understand current Victoria issues and their respective contexts. This also allows me to engage with solutions with a historical lens that observes VUSAC’s efforts as foundational, rather than through the perspective of having one year in office to change things. It roots our understanding of our own initiatives as achievable, realistic, and forwardthinking. Secondly, it gave me a gateway opportunity to be Chair of the SGRT (St. George Round Table) as well, [a role] which I have carried out vigilantly. I have been at the forefront of engagement with the UTSU, the ViceProvost, and different groups of lawyers and professional consultants. This experience has prepared me as the only person who can appropriately engage with the lingering UTSU issue and its possible outcomes. Thirdly, my experience as Chair gives me unmatched knowledge on the structure and form of VUSAC. Having that institutional knowledge is incredibly important in knowing how to change and evolve things in the most efficient and least destructive way possible. I know how work ought [to] be delegated and what is the best way for the council to function, leading to the internal discord present this year being nonexistent under our co-presidency.

VENEZUELA AND GREECE: How populist politics is challenging the system CATRIONA SPAVEN-DONN STAFF WRITER In May 2014, nationalism and Euroscepticism (opposition to the process of European political integration) were the hot topics of the EU elec tions.

Almost a year later, these trends have manifested themselves in a climate of increasing polar it y and divisiveness in Europe as well as fur ther afield.

L ast spr ing, left-wing ac tivist s celebrated the EU Parliament’s increased representation of socialist anti-auster it y par ties, such as Podemos in Spain and Sy r iza in Greece. However, nationalist anti-immigration par ties also gained ground in Nor ther n Europe, with significant wins for UK IP in the UK and Geer t Wilders’ neoconser vative “Par t y for Freedom” in Holland.

Since then, Sy r iza’s Alexis Tsipras has become the Pr ime Minister of Greece, and Podemos has caught the at tention of Spaniards and Europeans in general across the globe. Indeed, the last year has signalled a paradigmatic shift in the binar y politics of left and r ight. However, in light of the news cur rently emerging from L atin Amer ica- and the USA, these political changes cannot be viewed in isolation.

In recent week s, tensions bet ween socialist Venezuela and the U.S. have intensified. Even as the U.S. officially published a statement defining Venezuela as an “unusual and extraordinar y threat to the national secur it y and foreign policy of the United States,” Venezuelan officials were in Athens mak ing trade agreement s with the new socialist gover nment. It therefore appears that while Nor th-South relations in the Amer icas frac ture and old wounds resur face, socialist regimes are seek ing connec tions beyond borders and across oceans.

Greece and Venezuela’s new bilateral trade deal makes the European nation one of Caracas’ main trading par tners. T his fur ther unites t wo countr ies that, according to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, are both “fighting for their sovereignt y” in the face of exter nal “imper ialist threat s.” W hether these threat s come from the

USA or the EU mat ters lit tle when both countr ies believe they are fighting to implement economic and political systems that diverge from the neoliberal nor m.

Upon his elec tion, Pr ime Minister Tsipras received a congratulator y phone call from Maduro, who hailed him as “Comrade Alexis.” Many in Europe have adopted language familiar to those living under the Bolivar ian Revolution in Venezuela, as ideas of wholesale refor m to pr ivatization and public spending cut s have instilled a k ind of “revolutionar y fer vour.”

In the Spanish capital on Januar y 31 of this year, over 100,000 people took to the street s to suppor t Podemos and their “March for Change.”

For the Spaniards, auster it y cut s have meant a

drastic reduc tion in public spending on schools and healthcare, as well as an unprecedented r ise to over 50% unemployment among youth. Social movement s such as “Los Indignados” (“T he Indignant Ones”) grew out of this volatile political situation, eventually for ming Podemos, a radical leftist par t y promoting ta x refor m, public spending, and wealth redistr ibution. According to Universit y of Coimbra and Madison-Wisconsin Sociolog y Professor Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Podemos is “the biggest innovation in Europe since the Cold War.” de Sousa Santos also asser t s that Podemos can only be understood in conjunc tion with “the progressive gover nment s that emerged in L atin Amer ica in the 2000s,” namely Chávez’s gover nment in Venezuela.

T he innovations to established neoliberal and capitalist political and economic systems are therefore fundamentally interconnec ted. Following the global economic cr isis of 2008, disillusionment with gover nment s that promoted pr ivatization and spending cut s undoubtedly grew. It was in this climate that grassroot s populist par ties began to gain ground in elec tions and win seat s in parliament.

Venezuela has vehemently at tacked their categor ization by the USA as a “secur it y threat,” while highlighting the USA’s “imper ialist” presence in L atin Amer ica. Greece has stood it s ground in opposing Ger man Chancellor Angela Merkel’s auster it y measures and the EU’s bailout policies.

Podemos is aiming to take power from Mar iano Rajoy’s Conser vative People’s Par t y in elec tions later this year.

People-led politics is proving to be a challenge to the neoliberal status quo the world over. Tensions and divisions are pulling apar t the seams of entrenched political systems. Perhaps 2015 is the year when pressure from the r ight and the left—whether in Greece, Spain, Venezuela, or elsewhere—will ir revocably break apar t the world political scene as we k now it.

BLUE JAYS DISAPPOINT JUSTIN NOVICK-FAILLE STAFF WRITER Spr ing is supposed to be a time of renewed hope for all baseball teams. All 30 Major League teams descend upon Flor ida and A r izona to play a slate of preseason games before things really k ick off in early Apr il. It is a time for teams to put their disappointment s in the past and star t afresh. But this will be difficult for the Toronto Blue Jays, who had been hoping to compete in the playoffs this year (something they have not done since winning the World Ser ies in 1993). T hey have already suffered a big blow to their pitching staff, which was already plagued by uncer taint y.

Earlier this month, dur ing a routine bunting prac tice involving pitchers, the Jays’ br ight star, Marcus Stroman, tore his ACL and was declared out for the season. Stroman was expec ted to be an impor tant par t of the Jays’ pitching rotation and might have been the Opening Day star ter when the Jays are to take on the Yankees next month. Stroman came up to the Blue Jays in May last season and impressed greatly, first out of the bullpen and then as a star ting pitcher. T hank s to Stroman, it had seemed that the Jays would have four solid

star ting pitchers: veterans R.A. Dickey and Mark Buehrle, along with young guns Stroman and Drew Hutchison. T his way, the Jays would have only needed one more star ter and would have had a few options to choose from.

Now, however, the Jays might be in trouble.

T hey have highly touted prospec t s in Aaron Sanchez and Daniel Nor r is, but neither have any exper ience star ting in the Big Leagues. Sanchez exper ienced a lot of success out of the bullpen last season, but nobody k nows if he will be ready to transition into the star ter the Jays have envisioned him to be. Likewise, nobody k nows if Daniel Norr is will be ready for the Big Leagues either. With Stroman, the Jays could have used Sanchez out of the bullpen, star ted Daniel Nor r is in the minor leagues if he had needed it, and potentially slot ted Marco Estrada into the fifth rotation spot. Estrada has been shak y the past few seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers, but he might have made an okay fifth star ter this season.

T he fac t that the Jays probably don’t have the option of put ting Aaron Sanchez in the bullpen

is also troublesome. T he Blue Jays’ bullpen was, quite frankly, aw ful last season, and the loss of long-time closer Casey Janssen was not helpful either. Bret t Cecil was the other candidate to fill the role of closer, but he cur rently has shoulder pain, and there is some doubt as to whether or not he will be available once the season star t s. T he rest of the bullpen has holes too, and many spot s remain up for grabs. It would be helpful if Steve Delabar recaptures his all-star for m from t wo seasons ago, but the Jays still face many problems with the pitching staff.

T here is no question that ever y thing might work out for the Jays this season. T he offense is superb, Sanchez and Nor r is might tur n out great, and a few others might step up in the bullpen and help make it respec table. If all this happens, the Jays will have a great chance to make the playoffs.

But if they all f lop, the Blue Jays’ playoff drought will probably hit 22 years.

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THE NECESSITY OF STUDENT UPRISING: From divestment to union strikes JOANNA DOWDELL STAFF WRITER The term “protest” can have both positive and negative connotations. In ever y protest, there will be people who agree with the mandate of the organizing group and there will be people who do not. The nature of issues related to equity—the kind that require committed citizens to push toward changes in systems and policy—is that such issues are ver y likely to be contentious. An individual’s reaction to the word “protest” will likely be dictated largely by the groups the individual interacts with and the individual’s personal experience with organized disobedience.

But what exactly is the reasoning behind protesting as a concept? Especially within the context of modern university students, what are the methods by which students voice dissatisfaction with current systems? What benefits are there to gain from a small group of young people expressing dissatisfaction?

Protesting, at its core, is a physical and visual symbol of dissent by any group relating to specific issues of discontent. In universities, these issues are usually systemic problems with the way the university is governed, either in student governance or university administration. Arguably the largest current campaign to change universities’ operations is the divestment campaign, spearheaded by the internationally recognized 350 Organization. Student leaders on over 100 college and university campuses around the world are currently organizing in suppor t of divest-

ment for each of their respective institutions, and the campaign has already been successful in 26 campuses.

The divestment campaign, managed by the Fossil Free Uof T, for wards its message within the University of Toronto campus through various methods of systematic and strategic protest. In the fall of 2014, this included a campus-wide fossil fuel divestment march, which received extensive suppor t. However, sometimes less conventional means of protest are used, such as networking with other groups and faculty members on campus to receive wide-ranging endorsements, or spending hours at tables in various lobbies on campus to verbally inform other students of the issues and actions being taken. Cer tainly, true remonstration against institutional policies comes in many forms and levels of commitment, but all types of protest work toward the main goal of engaging citizens in complex discussion about how systems can be improved.

In this way, no campaign for change is ever truly standing alone. All examples of dissent ser ve to fuel others around them, inspiring the timid to rise and voice concerns. Additionally, the issues dealt with by one group in protest will often intersect with the fundamental beliefs of another group, creating networks not only of individual allies, but also of larger groups in solidarity with each other. Whether expressly

stated or indirectly felt, the courage of one group to stand up and fight against broken systems in suppor t of equity can always ser ve to encourage others.

The recent strike of the University of Toronto members of CUPE3902 Unit 1 is a prime example of such inspiration. The strike brought together numerous campus student groups, including members of the divestment campaign in solidarity with the CUPE strike members. Students who take a stand against systems that they feel are incongruous or oppressive are able to find strength in the knowledge that other protest groups are tr ying to create lasting change as well.

The divestment campaign is presently essential, not simply because it brings to light the abundant negative social impact of fossil fuel use worldwide, but also because divestment illustrates the power of youth to create tangible change.

In a time when it is incredibly easy for young people to believe that their voices do not matter, studentled campaigns such as divestment ser ve to prove that passionate and committed citizens can truly make a difference.

COUNTERCULTURE TODAY, COUNTERCULTURE TOMORROW MANAAL ISMACIL STAFF WRITER “We know the march is not yet over,” President Barack Obama announced earlier this month when commemorating the 50th anniversar y of “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Alabama. In arguably his most moving speech since re-election, the president addressed the current racial climate and acknowledged the reality of racial oppression in America while remaining characteristically optimistic. Obama’s words, although in response to tense race relations in the United States, hold a considerable amount of weight in this new era of protest. In keeping with the legacy of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, Obama’s speech responded to a universal spirit of collective action and dissent on the par t of citizens seeking change. Today, it seems the entire world is in protest, with citizens ever y where using peaceful protest as a vehicle to facilitate change in their communities.

The world saw how quickly the Occupy Wall Street movement rose to international heights and then quickly faded away. The Occupy movement emerged in response to the financial crisis of 20072008 and following the Arab Spring in 2011. It immediately garnered an international following, with a huge demonstration of solidarity that spanned 951 cities in 82 countries. Given the over whelming anticapitalist sentiment felt during that time, suppor ters hoped that Occupy would move beyond a dialogue on economic disparity and would pave the way for systemic changes. Instead, the lion’s share of Occupy protests came to an abrupt end, with its last major camp in London, England forcibly shut down near the end of 2012. Needless to say, not all move-

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ments suffer this fate, but one lesson that emerged out of Occupy Wall Street is that leadership and focus are central to the effectiveness of protest.

From the Euromaidan protests in Kiev, Ukraine to the tear-gassed streets of Ferguson, Missouri to student camps in Hong Kong, it appears that the entire world is up in arms, holding signs, chanting, and demanding reform. Whether you agree with

the championed causes or not, the reality that we are at a global tipping point of frustration seems to be reaffirmed ever y time a new protest movement emerges. It may be too soon to measure the legacy of these movements but, as global citizens, it is impor tant to maintain a critical approach in measuring their effectiveness.

TA STRIKE:

Op

LYNN HONG

Pet peeves

KASRA KOUSHAN EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Much has been said throughout the course of the TA strike about the positions of both the workers and the university’s administration and about who’s right and who’s wrong. That debate is rife with complexities and ethical subtleties. But instead of deciding on the overall validity of each group’s demands, I’ve put together a few of the things that have frustrated me the most during this debacle: Pet Peeve #1: Both parties’ misrepresentation of facts.

Unfortunately, throughout the course of the negotiations and the strike, both the university and the local CUPE unit have been guilty at times of misrepresenting the facts. In an email sent out to students just before the start of the strike, Vice-Provost Jill Matus insinuated that the safety of students might be “compromised” by picket lines made up of their own instructors and teaching assistants. A few weeks later, an email sent by Cher yl Regehr and Angela Hildyard indicated that CUPE had rejected an offer made by the university, while making no mention of the fact that this was actually a counter-offer to a proposal originally made by the union. Other mantras, like the administration’s emphasis on the TAs’ hourly wages and its claims about attempting to reach a compromise (when several of the university’s offers would cost less in the long run than the current one), were also disingenuous.

Had the negotiators been representing a private company, such distortions by the administrators would perhaps be a little bit more acceptable. But the University of Toronto is a publicly funded institution of higher education. The fact that its administrators have been willing to so blatantly misrepresent reality should be disturbing to ever yone. Of all institutions, the one whose core values are closely tied to objectivity and the dissemination of knowledge should not be playing political games in order to win the public’s favour.

This is not to say that the TAs are innocent, either. Most notably, the TAs’ emphasis on the minimum funding package has been disingenuous because of the wide range of funding levels that exist across the university. The average level of support for PhD students

is far higher than the minimum. When this detail is brought up, many respond that there are wide disparities between the departments. But doesn’t that turn the funding issue into more of a departmental problem, rather than a university-wide one?

Pet Peeve #2: CUPE’s incessant references to poverty.

Ever yone who has heard about the strike knows that the minimum funding package is below the poverty line for the City of Toronto. Not a day of picketing went by in which the picketers refrained from chanting, “We are Uof T! We shouldn’t live in poverty!” What no one seems to have mentioned yet, though, is that just because you’re making a “poverty-line” wage, that doesn’t mean you’re actually living in poverty.

Take the case of just about every undergraduate student in this university. Though some of us may have summer or part-time jobs, it’s likely that the majority of us are indeed making less than a living wage. But no one makes a big fuss about that, because we don’t expect to be supporting ourselves entirely as a result of our careers as students.

The same goes for being a graduate student. A graduate education is a major investment that is by no means meant to be permanent or mandator y. I don’t think any reasonable person would expect to go into grad school to make a lot of money during their studies, or even to be financially independent during that time. Further, being a TA or a sessional instructor isn’t even a career; it’s meant to be a temporar y, part-time job that students take as an aside to their research in order to relieve some of the financial pressures of being a student. This is what has been really frustrating about the TAs’ mentions of poverty wages and living conditions. Although many teaching assistants and instructors certainly face financial pressures (some of which are ver y severe), I really doubt that the majority of graduate students here are actually living in poverty.

Pet Peeve #3: Claims that a graduate degree is a right.

I’ve read blog posts on the CUPE page expressing the desire for a university in which you don’t have to be financially privileged in order to get a graduate education. That you don’t need to be lucky in order to enrol

in a PhD or Master’s program. While I agree that graduate school should be made accessible to successful undergraduate students, I think it’s absurd to claim that it should be totally accessible to literally ever yone. As I’ve mentioned before, a graduate education is a major commitment and should not be seen as something ever yone needs. It may sound harsh, but I think that such a degree is something you should be willing to pay for or earn through awards based on merit. It would be a waste of society’s resources to tr y to ensure that ever ybody is able to write a thesis on whatever they want for free.

Pet Peeve #4: The university’s claims that students “won’t be penalized.”

Throughout the strike, the university (as well as individual departments) have persistently claimed that students “won’t be penalized” if they choose not to cross the picket line. Right. Not penalized at all, except for the fact that you’ll miss the lecture material that you are still responsible for, and that material is really the only thing for which you’re paying tuition. I don’t blame the university for tr ying to keep classes running during the strike, but the administration’s position on the ramifications of not crossing the picket line has been completely unclear. As far as I’ve seen, lectures run by professors continue to have regular attendance, while some of my course coordinators have had to express the fact that we only need to write the next test “if we choose to do so.” Because, apparently, the university will not penalize us for supporting the strike, while at the same time the test is still running and being graded. This aspect of the situation has been terribly managed by the university and has only resulted in loads of confusion for ever yone.

Both parties have made claims that have been either misrepresentative or outright wrong. Both parties have been overly political about the situation and have demonstrated some amount of disregard for the undergraduates that have been left in the middle of the fight.

We’ve lost valuable hours of education that we paid for, and it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting anything back for it.

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T his is one ar ticle I never thought I’d w r ite.

I’ve never been interested in student gover nment. I sk ipped most of the elec tions in high school to go hang out behind the school with my fr iends (literally the only rebellious thing I did in those entire four years). I care a lot about politics at most other levels, and this complete lack of interest came from my belief that student gover nment didn’t really have an impac t on student life.

I’m not the only one to feel this way; Vic tor ia College has a long and stor ied histor y of apathy toward our student gover nment. I’ve heard estimates that only about 15% of the Vic tor ia College population ac tually voted in the VUSAC elec tion last year, which is far lower than Canadians’ usual (dismal) tur nout at federal elec tions.

But my views on the impor tance of student gover nment have changed over the years. Student gover nment inf luences student s’ lives at multiple levels, some of which we don’t usually see. For anyone who belongs to a club or lev y, a good work ing relationship with student gover nment is essential to get ting any thing done. For people who aren’t as direc tly involved, the student gover nment deter mines which event s and student initiatives get suppor t, exer ting an effec t on student life. And student gover nment doesn’t just mean VUSAC—it also includes positions like the Board of Regent s, which direc tly impac t the college’s policies.

T his year’s at tempted impeachment and subsequent resignation of the A r t s & Culture Commissioner following accusations of improper conduc t has thrown the impor tance of student representation and transparency into shar p relief.

We need to elec t leaders that represent our best interest s and work to create safe spaces at Vic. We also need to k now when people aren’t fulfilling these obligations, especially when these failures cause them to leave office.

I’m cautiously optimistic about the direction in which student gover nment is headed. T his year’s elec tion promises change—not just personnel change, but also institutional change. L ast year many of the candidates ran unopposed, and there were multiple positions left unfilled after the elec tion (some of these positions were filled by

Contributors Ashley Harripersad, Clarrie Feinstein, JJ Wong, Neil McKenzie-Sutter, Catriona Spaven-Donn, Justin Novick-Faille, Geoff Baillie, Ian de Rege, Joanna Dowdell, Manaal Ismacil, Kasra Koushan, Mike Pawliuk, Ariana Douglas Copy Editors Jacob McNair, Bronwyn Nisbet-Gray, Olivia Dziwak, Alexandra Jones Illustrations Lynn Hong, Wenting Li Photos Lynn Hong, Victoria Chuen, Neil McKenzieSutter Cover Photo Victoria Chuen

The Strand has been the newspaper of record for Victoria University since 1953. It is published 12 times a year with a circulation of 2000 and is distributed in Victoria University buildings and across the University of Toronto’s St. George campus.

The Strand flagrantly enjoys its editorial autonomy and is committed to acting as an agent of constructive social change. As such, we will not publish material deemed to exhibit racism, sexism, homo/transphobia, ableism, or other oppressive language.

The Strand is a proud member of the Canadian University Press (CUP).

Our offices are located at 150 Charles St. W., Toronto, ON, M5S 1K9. Please direct enquiries by email to editor@thestrand.ca. Submissions are welcome and may be edited for taste, brevity, and legality.

t

Follow us on Twitter for news and updates:

@strandpaper

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VUSAC ELECTIONS:

unelec ted officials and some were left empt y for the entire year). But this year there is a lot more competition for positions, which has created an interesting level of debate bet ween candidates.

I’m also excited to see candidates discussing substantial problems at the universit y—like mental health and the universit y’s sexual assault policy— and offer ing ser ious and concrete solutions. T his isn’t to say that we should be satisfied with mere discussion of these issues. Par t of being invested voters involves ac tually talk ing to candidates and holding them accountable for what they say they’ll do. We need to make sure that impor tant issues aren’t just buzz words, and that the candidates are planning on creating substantial change.

Vic tor ia student s have r isen to this challenge, and they’ve also been br inging up issues candidates haven’t covered in their plat for ms. Student questions on the VUSAC elec tion Facebook for um and the student Town Hall last Fr iday introduced an impor tant discussion about intersec tionalit y and suppor t for POC on campus. T here’s a real sense of student investment in the result s of this elec tion, which makes this sad, aging cynic excited for the future of student gover nment.

Being interested in student gover nment doesn’t stop at voting—it also means monitor ing what the student gover nment does dur ing the year. Now, attending a three- to four-hour VUSAC meeting on a Fr iday night might not be your top pr ior it y. But all the presidential candidates have space on their plat for m for mak ing VUSAC more accessible to the average student, whether it’s improving transparency for meetings or creating a more accessible website. It remains to be seen whether these initiatives will become a realit y, but including them in discussions is a step toward gover nmental accessibilit y.

I’m never going to r un for student gover nment myself—I have none of the qualities of a politician, student gover nment or other wise. But I’ve come to recognize that student gover nment is impor tant, whether we pay at tention to it or not. T he more we’re ac tively engaged with it by both suppor ting and cr itiquing it, the bet ter it can represent us.

Smell Ya Later (Smell Ya Later Forever)

LITERAL PICTURE OF THE STRAND’S OFFICE MINUS CAFFEINE PAULA RAZURI EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

My time as a totalitarian governor of the student paper

As many things in life do, my time at The Strand star ted with free pizza. My first year of universit y had zipped by while I was busy doing ver y important things like r iding the GO Train and researching universities to which I could transfer, so when second year came around and The Strand advertised a recr uitment night with free pizza, I figured it was time to tr y to get involved.

Before I established root s with The Strand, I dr ifted from one club to another and spent a lot of time standing awk wardly at meetings where ever yone already k new each other. I distinc tly remember opening the door to one Vic club (which shall remain nameless), mak ing eye contac t with the eight or so people huddled around a board game, and promptly exiting. Moment s of social uncer taint y were always balanced by a quick text message to a high school fr iend who would validate my social abilities. I would come and go from campus without talk ing to one person. I didn’t want to be here.

Student jour nalism had never appealed to me.

In fac t, I have a ha z y memor y of pick ing up my first copy of The Strand as a first year and thinking, well this is lame. I equated the student press to comically homegrown publications like The Daily Four th Gradian, and I was generally sceptical of the value of “news” to such a small communit y.

Granted, all of this happened approximately 43

years ago, and the memor ies tend to blur together.

After a str ing of unsuccessful at tempt s at student involvement, I stayed on campus past 9 PM (with a 2-hour commute home, that sacred timeslot was reser ved for only the most impor tant event s) and gathered in the for mer Cat’s Eye to sign up for mailing list s while sur reptitiously monitor ing the pizza supply. I left soon after the last slice.

I had failed to make any lasting fr iendships in my classes, but The Strand was the place where I could finally bond with people over the things you bond over in first and second year: movies, T V, music—the k ind of excited conversations that slowly stop happening once you get older. The Strand was where I could celebrate the things I liked with other student s who were similarly disinterested in being self-conscious.

My goal in joining rank s with the legion of the sleep-depr ived was to convince enough people that I was funny enough to r un the humour section. T hat didn’t happen, and instead I ended up holding hands with a couple of co-editors while generally shouting and demanding justice.

W hen you’re r unning a campus publication, it’s hard to think that you’re not always doing the worst job ever. In 2013, a Daria dopp elganger was elec ted as EIC: this has made a lot of p eople very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. I k now more than anyone that our lit tle paper isn’t

per fec t, but I won’t let anybody diminish the str ides we’ve made to improve the qualit y and look of a publication that we work on simply for the joy of doing it. I don’t k now if you’ve heard, but there isn’t a lot of money in pr int media these days: The Strand is entirely a labour of love. And while the love tends to dwindle after 1 AM on produc tion night s, I’m constantly ama zed and inspired by the interest and sk ill ex hibited by our contr ibutors and staff.

T hank you to my co-editors over the years and ever yone who comfor ted me while I watched my GPA slip away slowly dur ing long hours toiling away on InDesign. T hank you to my travel companions who let me go to 3 national conferences and make approximately .2 fr iends. And thank you to ever yone who has shared their talent and time with The Strand over the years.

I don’t think I will look back on my time at Vic with any par ticular fondness, but maybe that will change with time. W hen it comes to The Strand, however, I consider myself luck y to have found a communit y where I could grow and watch others grow, too.

It is with a generous helping of bit tersweet sauce that I say goodbye to what I shall from now on refer to as “my old campus rag.” Y’all have been great. I can’t wait to see what you do next.

THANK YOU FROM YOUR OUTGOING EDITORS

SLEEP???

THE ILLUMINATI VICTORY CAFE THE HATERZ COFEEN COOL STUDENT GOVERNMENT THAT CHOCOLATE THAT LETS YOU NEVER SLEEP LENNY KRAVITZ SHREK THAT PUPPY WHO IS BURNING BARELY CUSHIONED FURNITURE THE CLOUD(???)

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FE

Unpaid and Unreported The Structural Violence in Media Internships Photography by Victoria Chuen AMANDA AZIZ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Prestige can be an allur ing qualit y for some. For Susan*, a 21-year-old student jour nalist, the impressive alumni— such as Margaret At wood and Michael Ondaatje—of the literar y maga zine for which she inter ned was one of the many reasons she decided to per for m unpaid work.

As for the other reasons?

“I was feeling scared about wanting to get into an industr y that was so competitive and wanted to get as much exper ience as possible while I was still in my [undergraduate studies],” Susan admit s.

T he jour nalism industr y is in a state of f lux. With adver tisers f lock ing to the online world to fund their ventures, pr int publications are compelled to shut down, cut their staff size, or limit their space for new hires. Media organizations sometimes feel they can’t afford to pay their inter ns and entr y-level workers, so they tur n to unpaid inter nships as a solution.

Susan’s fears are not exaggerated; the supply for jobs in the media industr y is low, but the demand for work is high. W hat’s even more fr ightening is that the systemic inequalit y of unpaid inter nships cater ing to those who can afford to take up such labour takes the competition beyond a classist issue that’s rarely discussed in the media.

Although there has been growing coverage on unpaid inter ns filing lawsuit s against the employers who failed to properly compensate them for their labour, there has not been enough coverage on the effec t s of unpaid work on marginalized groups.

According to Andrew L angille, a Toronto law yer and an exper t on youth employment and labour market s, par t of the str uc tural problem can be connec ted to the vague wording of labour laws that are meant to prevent unpaid labour from happening. “I think we are pushing young people into some ver y precar ious situations, which can be taken as a for m of str uc tural violence inf lic ted by policy decisions,” he says.

As he goes on to say, “It’s safe to say that unpaid inter nships—or other for ms of unpaid labour—are for ms of precar ious work. T he people who do them don’t have a lot

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of power.” Although the amount of research on socioeconomic inequalit y relating to unpaid inter nships is sparse, L angille tur ns to T he Great Gat sby Cur ve, a char t-plot ting cur ve of data compiled by Miles Corak, a Canadian economist, which cor relates how the inequalit y of one generation affec t s oppor tunities for their descendant s. In an inter view with Sean McElwee for Mic.com, Corak stated that “W hat is underlying the cur ve and what draws those t wo themes together is the str uc ture of oppor tunit y—the tendency in countr ies with higher inequalit y to have more str uc tured oppor tunit y.”

W hen applied to the scenar io of unpaid work in the media industr y, the lack of oppor tunities that comes with not being able to afford an unpaid inter nship affec t s future job oppor tunities, too.

Greig de Peuter, assistant professor in the Depar tment of Communication Studies at Wilfred L aur ier Universit y, agrees with this notion, but also sees the implications of this systemic issue beyond economics. As de Peuter says, although “zero-wage work is a de fac to business model in many creative industr ies now,” the class bar r ier on tak ing unpaid labour is not limited to economic inequalit y. “[T he class bar r ier] also potentially nar rows the exper iences and perspec tives that are represented in the media.” T he limited oppor tunities created by str uc tural violence for those who cannot afford to take an unpaid inter nship is an intersec tional issue: the more the diversit y of the competition nar rows down, the greater the lack of diversit y represented in the industr y.

In fac t, de Peuter finds that “there’s lit tle coverage connec ting inter nships to race and gender inequit y, for example, and media inter nships are rarely linked to the wider conditions of precar it y in media work.”

Josh Mandr yk, co-chair of Student s against Unpaid Inter nship Scams, wor r ies about not just the str uc tural violence that limit s the oppor tunities of job prospec t s for aspir ing jour nalist s who cannot afford to work unpaid, but also about a recent trend in employers using a change in ter minolog y to bend the laws restr ic ting unpaid work.

“I have been seeing a [trend] of labeling unpaid work as

‘volunteer positions’ in job boards lately,” he has noted.

“You really star t to str uc ture who can get into cer tain jobs. As the number of unpaid inter nships increase[s], the possibilities of going into jour nalism become discouraging,” Ella Henr y, Mandr yk’s co-chair of Student s against Unpaid Inter nship Scams, adds.

W hat comes to mind is the ser ial inter n archet y pe— employers will be at trac ted to those with more exper ience, so young professionals often find themselves trapped in a loop of completing one inter nship after another to gain said exper ience. W hat should be noted is that tak ing up an unpaid inter nship is not the sole requirement to landing that f lashy jour nalist gig, especially since unpaid work is illegal. T here are plent y of ways for aspir ing jour nalist s to work their way up to a secured job, such as freelancing or even secur ing paid inter nships. Yet, it’s the constant pressure to take up unpaid work due to the lack of paid work being offered in the industr y, as well as the requirement of “x years of exper ience” in many entr y-level job descr iptions, that creates the competition for entr y-level workers. A fast way to get those years of exper ience is through offer ing to work unpaid. T herefore, the ser ial inter n archet y pe can be developed into a charac ter with the pr ivilege to work unpaid, and the abilit y to access more oppor tunities through those pr ivileges.

T he damaging aspec t of the unpaid inter nships creating systemic inequalit y is that there is a culture of silence in the media industr y regarding repor ting about the str uctural violence of unpaid inter nships. Unpaid labourers face obstacles when at tempting to complain about precarious work conditions, such as fear of being blacklisted in the media industr y. T his creates even more of an issue of str uc tural violence. T here may be advocacy groups, such as Henr y’s and Mandr yk’s organization and the Canadian Inter n Association, that help to protec t inter ns from labour violations like unpaid work, but Henr y argues that “the onus should not be [placed on] those who take up the precar ious work.”

Despite having str uggled to balance her involvement with extracur r icular ac tivities, schoolwork, and a par ttime job, Susan still claims, “I think having done [t wo inter nships] opened a lot of doors for me.” She does, however, war n that the prestige of the publication’s name can only go so far—it’s the qualit y of the inter nship program that mat ters. “People in the industr y k now which publications [or] companies have ac tually beneficial inter nships.

If you’re not lear ning any thing, people will pick up on that later when you’re inter viewing around.” It’s tr ue that the onus should not be put on those who decide to take up unpaid work, but Susan recommends they proceed with caution if they decide to take par t in unpaid work.

As for the culture of silence sur rounding the insufficient amount of repor ting on unpaid and precar ious work in the media industr y: perhaps it’s time for media industr ies to star t repor ting on labour violations in inter nships instead of the inter ns themselves. T he break ing news may urge policy makers to consider addressing the str uc tural violence occur r ing in this industr y once the public k nows about it.

It’s safe to say that unpaid internships—or other forms of unpaid labour—are forms of precarious work...

*Name has been changed to protec t the privacy of the p erson inter viewed. ​ his ar ticle was funded by Media Works, a projec t of C WA T Canada, in collaboration with the Canadian University Press and the National Campus and Community Radio A ssociation. For more original labour s tories and a handbook on media worker rights and labour rep or ting, visit w w w.media-works.org.

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EMILY POLLOCK

A/C

BREAKING DOWN BREAKS ASHLEY HARRIPERSAD CONTRIBUTOR Do you know how to take a break? Think about it— do you really? Well, either way, I have some tips that can help you take the best breaks ever!

Okay, so sometimes we feel as though there aren’t enough hours in the day to get our readings and assignments done. I’m sure you’ve heard people tell you, “Make sure you manage your time!” Obviously, this is easier said than done.

I get it. Some days you find yourself working for what feels like hours on end. Although this may be the case, you should know that there are ways to make yourself feel better about studying. For example, if your method of studying includes buckling down for long periods of time, consider the “30-minute rule.”

The premise of this glorious time-management rule is based on efficiency.

How does it work, you ask? Simple. Do you have a phone? Watch? Maybe an actual timer? Great! Set your timing device for 30 minutes and work for its entirety. This means no Facebook, no texting, no YouTube—you must avoid any and all distractions! Stay focused for 30 minutes, and if you keep at it, you’ll

be getting more and more work done in no time.

Now, when your timer goes off, you take a fiveminute break. Yes, a break. But don’t get carried away, because you only have five minutes. Watch a video (being mindful of its length), respond to a message, or get up and do some jumping jacks. Whatever it is that you choose to do, make sure that you pay attention to the fact that this should only be for five minutes. Next? Repeat. You may find that after a couple hours, a longer break is needed. Don’t forget to mind your mind! Maybe you can use one of your longer breaks to grab a snack, rehydrate, or watch some T V (Netf lix is not recommended).

With experimentation, you may find that you prefer to do ten-minute breaks ever y 45 minutes, or some other division of time that works for you.

Different courses will require different time commitments; there isn’t a one-size-fits-all method. Find what works for you, and let your productivity f low!

Here are some tips to help you get your study on:

Tip #2: Prepare your snacks and meals ahead of time. This way, you’ll be able to take breaks that are more gratifying (unless, of course, you enjoy preparing snacks and meals). This will also likely help you stay focused on your work.

Tip #3: Remove all possible distractions. By distractions, I mean your phone and potentially even your Wi-Fi. Have you ever tried chucking your cellphone across the room and leaving it there while you work? Doing this will also make you get up and stretch when you take a break.

Tip #4: Ask your friends and classmates what works for them. If your friends are studying similar material (or even if they are not), you should ask them how they go about studying. You might even pick up a few new study techniques.

Don’t just take breaks; take breaks that work for you. Good luck!

Tip #1: The 30-minute rule. Tr y it!

HERE COMES COMPANY! CLARRIE FEINSTEIN STAFF WRITER Stephen Sondheim is a musical theatre composer and ly r icist who deser ves his own unique musical categor y. W hy? Because of the complexit y of his scores and br illiance of his ly r ics. He manages to create an ar t for m within the genre of musical theatre, which has never been fully ack nowledged as “high-class” theatre.

Company follows a man named Bobby, who is celebrating his 35th bir thday with his fr iends, a group of five couples. T hey all love Bobby and wish him the best on his special day. But, more impor t antly, they want him to set tle down and “tie the k not.” T hroughout the show, Bobby visit s his fr iends and his three lovers. He goes through life nonchalantly, not k nowing what he want s from his ever yday exper iences. At least, not until his last number, “Being Alive,” when he embraces the fear of let ting someone in and wanting that special person—the company of a companion.

It was dur ing this number that Bobby, played

by Kor in T homas-Smith, really came alive and delivered a power ful per for mance. His vocals throughout the show were exceptional. However,

10

the charac ter of Bobby is nuanced, and T homasSmith felt a bit young to play the role—it is hard for anyone our age, especially a first-year, to relate to the notion of feeling direc tionless when fr iends are get ting mar r ied.

My main cr itique of the show was of director Kevin Wong’s creative vision. It seemed to lack focus and clar it y. T he minimalist retro set evoked the early 1970s, which could have created uniformit y in the costume choices to give this unconventional play a cohesive aesthetic. However, some of the ac tors were in moder n clothes, some in 50sst yle dresses, and others in punk garb, mak ing the visuals disjointed.

Some of the roles were gender-swapped, which could have worked. However, the names remained the same, so Mar tha was played by Roddy Rodr iguez. T his charac ter makes a joke about pregnancy, which did not quite resonate. T his also threw off the blend of voices in “You Can Dr ive a Person Cra z y” with the other t wo female singers. T he pur pose of this intentional choice did not translate to stage.

T he first half of the show seemed a bit clunk y and chaotic, most likely due to first-night jit ters.

T he second ac t had a br ighter energ y, though, and the scene work was focused and concise. Sondheim’s br illiance allows for minimal staging because the words and music are so clever. T his allows his plays to speak for themselves, something which was accomplished in the lat ter half of this produc tion.

T he cast is the main reason to see this show, as each ac tor brought their own personal f lare to the role. T he chemistr y bet ween the couples and the rest of the cast was tangible, and their pure joy for the show they had worked so hard at was evident. In par ticular, Anthony Bethelo, Dan Newton, Philip Russell, Coco Lee, Maddy Foley, and Claire Renaud delivered impeccable comedic timing, ac ted with complete convic tion, and delivered some of the best moment s in the show. T his show is an ensemble piece, and this cast was a company of the highest order.

CLUBBING: Fist pumping and hip bumping JJ WONG CONTRIBUTOR Clubbing is a r ite of passage for student s pining for the quintessential undergraduate exper ience in all it s dimly-lit glor y. Like a few choice words and phrases in the English language, such as “ice cream,” “going to the g ym,” and “sex,” the ter m “clubbing” conjures up a whole host of highly personal and subjec tive images, feelings, and expectations. Clubbing is not per fec t, but neither are we. Despite it s naysayers, here is an ode to the whole soul-throbbing exper ience—a call to ar ms (and hips) to clubbing for the sake of dance and enjoyment.

W hy do people go out to nightclubs, any way?

According to the ever-reliable Wik ipedia, “a nightclub is generally distinguished from bars, pubs, or taver ns by the inclusion of a dance f loor and a DJ booth…” AH-H AH! W hat a splendid answer. T he highlight of nightclubs must have something to do with dancing or music; if dance and music are essential to what differentiates a club from other fun places that one may choose to visit on a blissful evening, why do some revelers seem not to give t wo hoot s about dancing?

Okay, it’s possible that the problem lies with the clubs themselves. Clubs in Toronto are notor ious for their long lines, r idiculous winter coat check s (blessed be the summer), and the strange

phenomenon that 90% of them seem to feel exac tly the same. To be fair, it’s a business. Clubs will probably always operate the way they do because they work from a financial perspec tive. But that doesn’t mean that patrons of said commercial establishment s can’t have ama zing, unforget table night s that will become the stuff of urban legends.

T here’s always a way to have a great night.

T he decision to elevate one’s happiness to unprecedented levels of musical ecstasy is largely based on mindset and at titude. Nothing can fa ze the exper ienced clubber or the deter mined par tier. No mat ter how crowded the dance f loor or how earcr ushingly loud the music, they’ve done it all and seen it all. T here’s always hope. Adopt this war r ior mindset and the night will reveal it s secret adventures and possibilities.

Clubbing with the r ight people is a must. T hose who love clubbing for the dancing and music are generally the people you want to include in your crew. Debbie Downers and Negative Nathans?

No thank you. If you br ing fr iends who are ready to have a rollick ing good time, it’s a guarantee that no mat ter what happens, a good time is what you’ll find!

In regards to the dancing, it’s really simple, I promise. T he secret to having fun dancing at

a club is… *dr umroll please* …DON’T GI VE A FIDDLER’S FART ABOUT WH AT OTHER PEOPLE THINK! It’s really that easy. It also helps leaps and bounds if you like the music in the club on that par ticular night. So plan your night s accordingly, if at all possible. Once you star t feeling the music and let ting loose, you’ll find that it’s a lot easier to enjoy the exper ience. T hat being said, when you’re really in a pickle, keep it simple. Nightclubs are not k nown for their endless expanse of spacious frolick ing meadows, so don’t f lail around too violently. T hank fully, other than that consideration, all that really mat ters when you star t enjoying the music and the rambunc tious energ y of your fellow par t y mates is having a good time.

Yes, you deser ve a great night to let loose and enjoy the simple things that life has to offer (like shak ing your boo-tay). So lock those apprehensive thought s up and charge for th fearlessly. T he world of clubbing is one fraught with the strangest of exper iences, but it’s also home to some of the best life-affir ming night s one can have. We can choose to watch wist fully as life passes us by, or we can dance. So please, when that choice comes around, get out there and DA NCE!

what was happening inside the company, following the tragic destr uc tion of my Nameless fr iend.

It was really dramatic. On the one hand, Nameless was an ama zing recr uiter and had an ir resistible personalit y. But on the other hand, he was clearly a prac tised and incor r igible liar who needed to be ousted. Judgement aside, if that wouldn’t make great television, what would? I dare you to tell me you wouldn’t watch that if it were a real show.

So that’s what I’ve done.

Since that unnamed news website/maga zine and I have gone our separate ways, I’ve created T he Meta Projec t. It’s a news/media website, but with the added dimension of focusing on the peo-

ple behind the site—the employees and the personal dramas occur r ing behind the scenes. It’s k ind of like The O ffice, except it’s real. Maybe it sounds weird, but I think the enter tainment world is ready for something like this: an open-source realit y T V/web office drama, but minus the office because we don’t have one of those yet. But I’m work ing on it!

So if you see yourself as a dynamic television personalit y, or if you are ambitious or talented, come join our team. We want you! Or if you’re confused or just interested in lear ning about what we do, come check us out at w w w.themeta.website.

THE META PROJECT: Acting in shameless self-promotion

In my second year of universit y, I got involved in a maga zine/news website that will remain unnamed.

Ask anyone else involved in that maga zine/website and you may get a different stor y, but for almost t wo years, it was a real lear ning exper ience for me about the worlds of news media and jour nalism. It was exciting because it was something that could almost be considered a “real company,” largely due to the effor t s of myself and one other person, who we will call “Nameless” for the pur poses of this ar ticle.

Dur ing the time Nameless was involved, our contr ibutor pool expanded dramatically and we were able to star t planning to grow the company.

Nameless seemed to at trac t people wherever he went; it was like recr uiting was his calling in life.

But there was also a real downside to Nameless, which I wasn’t aware of immediately.

It tur ned out Nameless was exaggerating ever y thing about the maga zine. For example, he told potential contr ibutors that the maga zine had an incoming gover nment grant wor th $50,000, which wasn’t tr ue. But it was worse than just these lies— it seemed like Nameless had also invented an alter nate personalit y for himself in relation to the company. He was apparently telling people he was a founder and CEO (also untr ue) and mak ing other incredible statement s. W hat I’m outlining here was only the tip of the iceberg.

My relationship to this stor y is that I was the one who involved Nameless in the company, and when the time came, I was the one who pushed him out. By the end of this exper ience I remember regret ting that we hadn’t had a camera rolling on

NEIL MCKENZIE-SUTTER

NEIL MCKENZIE-SUTTER STAFF WRITER

11

F/M

THOUGHTS ON TO PIMP A BUTTERFLY

FLICKR

Musically, To Pimp a Butter fly mixes a plethora of black inf luences—direct references to 2Pac, a George Clinton cameo, Snoop Dogg. The unrestrained jazz and funk inf luences run as an undercurrent throughout the album. It’s Kendrick’s musical love letter to his communit y, infused with his own inner conf lict and conviction.

Culturally, there’s no coincidence that it comes on the heels of D’Angelo’s Black Messiah. The two represent different approaches to the same issues that have come to the forefront of our societ y’s consciousness in the past six months—Tray von Mar tin, Eric Garner, and police brutalit y—and these approaches ref lect the ar tists themselves. D’Angelo famously took 14 years to release the follow-up to Voodoo, despite playing tracks from it as early as 2008. This demonstrates his per fectionism: the album itself is a carefully constructed meditation that deals with what’s built up inside of him in a ver y deliberate manner.

The contrast that Kendrick presents is what makes To Pimp a Butter fly so compelling. It aims to do justice and pay tribute to his ancestr y, but he’s so full of anger and internal contradiction with his place in the world that there are moments of rage that end up inevitably leaking out. All the darkest and most personal tracks (here’s looking at “u”) are solo effor ts without any features—they’re unrestrained outpourings of emotion. This contrasts

FLICKR

ANTHONY BURTON NEWS EDITOR

with the tracks that show deliberation, with the aforementioned funk and RnB elements and a host of culturally significant features.

This juxtaposition is what makes To Pimp a But-

ter fly not an album to experience—there’s no room for myself in these shoes. The por trait of this man is too complete. We can only hope to understand.

MORE DRAMA THAN DOCUMENTARY BRONWYN NISBET-GRAY COPY EDITOR If you’re like me, you found that Serial was absolutely enthralling and made for some interesting T TC riding and campus traversing. It definitely made a good case for the crime procedural, a genre of film/ literature/television/radio that I generally detest. So often, crime shows feel as slimy and cheesy as the murders they explore. With the bad background music and sleazy voice overs, it’s only appropriate to watch them at 2 AM when there is nothing else on television besides infomercials.

Where Serial began to challenge the normal structure and development of the real crime procedural, I hoped HBO’s The Jinx would continue on.

The miniseries, directed by Andrew Jarecki (director of 2010’s A ll Good Things), examines the role that real estate heir Rober t Durst played in a number of crimes—significantly, the 1982 disappearance and suspected murder of Durst’s wife, Kathleen. Interestingly, A ll Good Things also represented Kathleen’s murder, albeit from a fictional perspective with the majorit y of the film’s emphasis placed on character psychology and Ryan Gosling’s brooding, prett y-boy face.

The Jinx has sparked intense interest and public scrutiny for its final episode and Durst’s arrest for the murder of Kathleen Durst one day before the finale premiered on HBO. This series questions the purpose and expectations viewers can bring to true crime. While Serial’s showrunner, Sarah Koenig, did not provide a completely conclusive opinion at the end of the season, The Jinx cer tainly points to a sin-

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gle reading of events and makes a case for convicting Durst. While I won’t divulge any of the series’ plot, I will say that it is complicated, unexpected, and brings up a lot of ethical questions about how the show functions.

But where A ll Good Things felt slow and poorly paced, The Jinx feels exciting and engrossing (and with only six episodes, it’s easy to marathon in a day). With rhy thmic editing, the inclusion of interviews with Durst himself, and eye-catching reconstructions of events, Jarecki’s series is addictive and surprisingly beautiful. And, unlike its Cold Case predecessors, it has high production values. As much as I love watching television that looks good, there’s something to be said about how the look of the series impacts how I read the events on-screen. In particular, the series’ pacing, which emphasized a slow build, nearly eradicated any doubts I might have had about Durst’s guilt. Notably, the series stresses not just the crime, but how Durst develops as a suspect and a character throughout the documentar y.

While I definitely think The Jinx is appropriate exam break enter tainment, I hesitate to call it a documentar y. Jarecki’s series seems to have more in common with fictional crime procedurals like True Detective or Broadchurch than true crime. Notably, The Jinx emphasizes what t ype of person Durst is as much as what crimes he supposedly committed. In my opinion, this blurs the line between suggestion to the viewer and manipulation of the viewer, between expositor y documentar y and drama.

Then, there remains the question of how we can understand this series and its social role. Should people, par ticularly law enforcement bodies, rely on television and enter tainment as evidence when deciding to convict or arrest people—or (in the case of Serial) allow people to appeal charges? It’s a complicated question that doesn’t take away from the show’s enter tainment value, and for many people it increases interest in the series. Many people want to see if they agree that Durst is guilt y, innocent, or somewhere in between.

I suggest viewers take any admissions made in The Jinx with a proverbial grain of salt. There’s a definite chance that Rober t Durst will not be convicted at the end of all this, and there’s contention as to whether any thing from the series could be used in trial as evidence. It will be interesting to see how Jarecki’s miniseries will impact the procedural genre and the law in due time. The questions raised by this series remind me (perhaps inappropriately) of “Razzle Dazzle” from Chicago!. As Billy Flynn says: Give ‘em the old razzle dazzle Razzle dazzle ‘em Give ‘em an act with lots of f lash in it And the reaction will be passionate Give ‘em the old hocus pocus Bead and feather ‘em How can they see with sequins in their eyes?

REMEMBER GLEN CAMPBELL GEOFF BAILLIE STAFF WRITER The life of Glen Campbell has been well-documented. After rising from an impoverished childhood in Arkansas, the countr y legend has remained famous for his entire adult life. His experiences have been documented on records since his beginnings as a session player with the Beach Boys and into his sixdecade solo career. They have been documented on television, where he hosted the Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, one of the most popular shows on television during its run. They have also been documented in film, most notably in the 1969 film True Grit, where Campbell starred alongside John Wayne.

These records have established his life in the public consciousness, but they are all things that Campbell himself does not remember. The final and most impor tant par t of his career is documented in the 2014 film, Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me. The film is about his last tour, which he embarked on after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at age 75.

Campbell’s song “I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” written for the film, will be the last song he ever releases. The first line in the song is a contradiction: “I’m still here, but yet I’m gone.” It’s an expression of being at once absent and present, tr ying to reconcile a claim to identit y with a weakening understanding of who it is that you are. This challenge is impossible, but it is for the braver y in the effor t that Campbell makes against an impossible challenge that this tour will rightly go down as an historic set of per formances. Accordingly, the Alzheimer’s Association now distributes the Glen Campbell Courage Award.

The title of the film comes from an early scene where Campbell is watching a home movie and fails to recognize his own appearance. He asks his wife, Kim, “Who is that?” When she tells him that he is watching a movie about himself, he responds, “No kidding? I’ll be me.”

I’ll be me. A self-affirmation, which, over the course of the film, becomes increasingly difficult for Campbell to make. His struggle, and the struggle of the more than 36 million people in the world who suffer from Alzheimer’s, is to somehow remain himself while knowing increasingly little about who he is. Over the course of the tour, Campbell’s Alzheimer’s progresses from Stage Two to Stage Five. At the outset of the tour, “I’ll be me” was a statement of defiance—an ar tist holding true to his desire to perform, despite (and perhaps to spite) the impending deterioration of his capabilit y to do so.

Central to the film is the question of identit y. To some degree, a person is the culmination of ever ything they’ve ever done, and their identit y is no more than a reper tor y of their past experiences. If this is true, then the increasing distance between Campbell and his memories makes him less and less himself.

But there are the par ts of our identit y that exist outside of ourselves. The meanings we assign to material items become ingrained in who we are. For Campbell, the stage is such an item. In inter views around the time of the tour, Campbell’s wife expressed concerns about his continuing to per form.

She thought he should be resting as his disease took par ts of him away each day. But Campbell was ushered to the stage each night by the par ts of him that remained. Those remaining fragments of his capabilit y as a musician and as a per former could still meet the demands of his innate braver y. To walk out on a stage is to risk miserable failure in exchange for the possibilit y of glor y. It’s an entirely natural place for a man who’s been driven all his life by reckless heroism.

Campbell continues to be himself by doing what he has always done, and it might be his good fortune that what he has always done is play music. In

recent years, music has been incorporated into Alzheimer’s therapy for its abilit y to somehow transcend the limitations of the disease. Neurologist Oliver Sacks wrote about this in his book, Musicophelia: “The inexpressible depth of music, so easy to understand and yet so inexplicable, is due to the fact that it reproduces all the emotions of our innermost being, but entirely without realit y and remote from its pain.”

Throughout the tour Campbell becomes increasingly reliant on instructions that he reads from a teleprompter. During a concer t at Ryman Auditorium, he reads one instruction aloud: “Glen play long guitar solo.” He hesitates for a moment in a state of

confusion before reacting. “Oh, okay,” he says, “I’ll play one then,” before launching into a solo that is as precise and vir tuosic as any thing he has ever played.

At 77, Campbell’s family decided that they could no longer keep him safe and placed him in a longterm care facilit y. His past is gone, he doesn’t know where he is, and he can hardly speak. But there’s a guitar in the recreation room, and sometimes he per forms for other residents.

“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” was nominated for both a Grammy and an Academy Award. Campbell only won the Grammy, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that we remember him.

CK

EMILY POLLO

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F/M

KATZENJAMMER’S ROCKLAND: A brief review

IAN DE REGE CONTRIBUTOR Kat zenjammer is a Nor wegian girl group of growing popularit y, consisting of Anne Marit Bergheim, Solveig Heilo, Turid Jørgensen, and Marianne Sveen.

Together they play upward of 15 different instruments, only occasionally needing to bring in outside musicians. There’s no lead singer or drummer as such—they share the instruments and the spotlight. They’re so in sync that after years of listening to them, I still have a hard time telling who sings what—they function as one musical organism. This is what turns a group of people playing music together into a band.

Genre-wise, Kat zenjammer are hard to define.

“Pop” is a nice, overarching, vague term, but it does them discredit—not because pop music is in any way inferior, but because they bring so much more to the table: folk, blues, countr y, and so much more. What distinguishes their music and makes it great is the per formance, not the genre. They bring together exciting instrumentations, interesting narratives, and beautiful vocal harmonies with tremendous energy.

It’s clear that they love working together.

Earlier this year, they released their third album, Rockland—a reference not to rock music, but to the Allen Ginsberg poem, “Howl.” While I wasn’t neces-

sarily expecting the same energy of their first two albums, I knew the combination of Ginsberg, a personal favourite, and Kat zenjammer had to be good. I was not disappointed.

The album star ts off wonder fully with “Old de Spain,” a gorgeous blues piece that’s fun to sing along with. It’s followed by “Cur vaceous Needs,” a high-energy mandolin affair (they do countr y really well) and “Oh My God,” which isn’t quite as strong as the previous tracks but has great instrumentals and a really catchy riff.

Next is “Lady Grey,” which was previously released as a single. Written and sung by Marianne Sveen, it’s prett y and straightfor ward without being boring. “My Own Tune” makes great use of the toy piano and is similar to “Lady Grey” in its happy simplicit y. Here you can see the inf luence of world music. The toy piano reappears in “Shine Like Neon Rays,” which is a fairly generic pop song compared to the rest of the album.

“Driving After You” has some of the best smooth blues piano I’ve heard. It’s one of the strongest songs on the album, and the backing vocals are a nice touch.

“Flash in the Dark” isn’t as interesting musically, but the lyrics and catchy chorus give it strength.

“My Dear” is a really lovely song overall, with beautiful harmonies. “Bad Girl” is another blues/ folky song, and they sing this genre really well. I’d love for them to do just a whole blues album—you can’t help but clap along to this one. It star ts off soft but has loads of energy by the end.

And last, the titular “Rockland.” It’s about being there for someone with whom you can really communicate and relate to on a unique level. This could easily be on the soundtrack for a movie that looks cheesy but is actually beautiful. I’d watch it. It’s a sentimental ending—something you can enjoy listening to but also think about.

I’d give Rockland four out of five stars. It’s a bit more generic than Kat zenjammer’s previous albums, but only a bit. It’s still got the genre-busting levels of energy I’ve come to expect from them and has some killer songs. While the strongest ones are the first and last, there’s also a lot of solid material in the middle. Kat zenjammer seem like really fun people to be around, if their music is any indication of personalit y. And some Ginsberg in there for good measure?

Per fect.

“WHY NOT RUN?” Tina Fey and Vince Gilligan grapple with meeting and subverting expectations NEIL MACISAAC ASSOCIATE STRANDED EDITOR This question is asked in the third episode of the Breaking Bad spin-off series, Better Call Saul. Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) is confused by the suggested possibilit y that a missing family of extor tionists faked a kidnapping and are in hiding close by. The knowing response to his quer y: “That’s what ever ybody expects.” As a spin-off of the most nail-biting and fast-paced drama of recent years, this def lation of tension feels like a wink to what the show has been developing over its first six episodes—a rejection of the past and an embrace of slowness.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s third episode opens with its protagonist (Ellie Kemper) struggling with her past as a bunker-bound prisoner of a doomsday cult leader, comparing herself to a circus act. “Step right up and see the mole woman! She made a pet cat out of dr yer lint and a Gerschner’s bag!” Any viewer of Tina Fey’s previous series would find it hard not to compare this declaration to any number of lines regarding tragic pasts on 30 Rock (“I once saw a baby give another baby a tattoo! They were ver y drunk!”). Both Fey and Better Call Saul’s creator Vince Gilligan are working in the shadows of likely their greatest achievements, and both are responding in different ways.

While Gilligan’s project is more steeped in his past, a spin-off of a drama as highly acclaimed as Breaking Bad is basically unheard of. In an inter view with WIRED.com, he cites keeping his staff employed as a factor of the show’s success: “I’m CEO of a $30- or $40-million-dollar company... I’ve got 150,200 people working in this corporation.” This reasoning could just as easily have been applied to a decision to drag out Breaking Bad’s conclusion, and any thing new would be compared to it regardless, so the decision is understandable.

Fey and co-creator Rober t Carlock explained to Enter tainment Weekly that the genesis of Kimmy

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Schmidt came from an NBC proposal to write a show around actress Ellie Kemper. Less altruistic on the sur face, but it came to include the scene-stealing Tituss Burgess and Jane Krakowski as co-stars, who had guest appearances and regular turns on 30 Rock, respectively. What separates Kimmy Schmidt most from 30 Rock is its commitment to an actual theme or message about how we por tray victimhood and how it can be subver ted. Aside from 30 Rock periodically revisiting the question, “Can women have it all?” (spoiler: yes) it was basically just a joke machine—albeit one of the greatest joke machines ever devised.

Beyond that, Kimmy Schmidt’s innovations are generally incremental. It has an ever-expanding cast that balances sharp writing with incredible per formances, like 30 Rock, but it’s more diverse. Tituss Burgess is a gay black male in a leading comedic role (ver y new) counterbalanced by less tactful por trayals of other people of colour (crazy old). Its visuals and editing are ver y 30 Rock, just with fewer whip cuts and more screen time outside. Jane Krakowski’s character is nearly identical to 30 Rock’s Jenna Maroney, but Tina Fey only appears in front of the camera in a limited and ver y different role. This incremental progression is similar to that of Michael Schur’s st yle from The Office to Parks & Recreation to Brooklyn Nine-Nine becoming gradually more diverse and experimental while the overall format remains fairly constant. If you liked 30 Rock, you’ll like Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

Likely a result of being a drama, a direct spin-off, and coming so hot on the heels of its inspiration, Better Call Saul opts for more revolution than evolution to the extent it can be achieved. The series opens by revealing the tragic (figurative) death of Saul Goodman, employed at a Cinnabon in Omaha.

The narrative then jumps back to its main arc, set in

2002, with detours to other times and other characters. This is the only way one might describe it as jumpier than its predecessor. It’s shot from generally stationar y positions that tend to include full-body shots of characters, the most striking example being the painstakingly slow descent of an elderly woman down her stairs. Time lapse shots, one of the most maligned visual elements of Breaking Bad, are generally rare so far, as if to underscore the change of pace.

The overall stakes are lower both by nature of the show being a prequel and by design, with main characters mostly removed from the realm of drugs, murder, and neo-Nazis. The message seems to be that this is less a dynamic and moralistic “study of change” and more a mellow yet existential study of things staying the same. When it works, that is.

When it doesn’t, it feels like a padded and dull march toward Jimmy McGill adopting the Saul Goodman mantle and the more annoying characters getting killed off, much like the Star Wars prequels. The deciding factor seems to be dependent on whether Saul is showing swindlers desperately tr ying to delay the drop of the other shoe, or contrived backstories to characters we liked better outside the spotlight.

The variation has been patchy so far, without a clear learning cur ve.

These impressions come from a limited sample size: Kimmy Schmidt’s 13-episode first season is on Netf lix, while Saul’s ten-episode run on AMC will end April 6. Thankfully, both shows have the suppor t of second season renewal already. More than that, Fey and Gilligan’s shows feel like they are getting away with something they couldn’t in the hands of less established talent. They invite comparisons to their predecessors by nature, but get away with experimentation by that same nature. Ideally, neither are choosing to run from grow th.

TAS REJECT “OVERLY-GENEROUS” BILLION-DOLLAR-PER-HOUR PAY RAISE

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Also includes “overly-generous” 209.999985 reduction in paid hours!

MIKE PAWLIUK CONTRIBUTOR In the four th week of legal striking at the University of Toronto by its TAs and course instructors, as represented by CUPE 3902 Unit 1, the university took the unusual position of offering the union a pay raise to an unprecedented $1 billion per hour. “We feel like this addresses the main concerns of the union’s proposal,” said Cher yl Regehr, the Vice-President and Provost at the University of Toronto. “It is a more than generous offer.”

Going one step fur ther, the university also offered the union a reduction in their minimum required hours by 209.999985 hours to 0.000015 hours. “This offer recognizes that our graduate students are fulltime researchers and should be devoting their time to research,” said the provost. “Now ever y graduate student will be able to pay for a year’s rent, tuition, child care, textbooks, conference travel, and a metro pass, all in the time it takes for light to travel a mere four and a half kilometres. Boundless generosity.”

Erin Black, the chair of the Teaching Assistant Union, said this won’t change the TAs guaranteed

funding of $15,000. “Seriously, just multiply the numbers together. You’ll see it doesn’t actually change any thing.” (Editor’s note: We tried this, but the numbers were too big. We gave up.)

The university isn’t convinced and insists that its $1 billion per hour rate is so generous that, “We are actually disgusted that the TAs think their work is wor th this much. If I were offered this rate to f lip burgers, I would do it.”

Students like Guy Aulieve, in the Depar tment of ActFirstThinkLater, feels like students are caught in the middle. “Can’t the university just fire them all and get new ones? Like, c’mon. You said they are getting paid $1 billion per hour? Pfffft. I would much rather my tuition go towards stuff like, I dunno, computers. Or self-wor th classes for the Robar ts help desk people.”

In other news, the University of Toronto has just announced a new Get Finished Soon™ Improvement Motivation Grant in the form of a one-time, $2 million-per-student grant. “We want ever yone to get to

feel like a millionaire,” said the provost.

The university also announced a 25,000% increase in tuition fees for domestic students in 2016, from around $8,000 in 2015. (Editor’s note: We think this amounts to a $2 million dollar tuition fee, but we can’t be sure, as the numbers are so large.)

STRAND LIBS PRESENTS:

HOW TO SURVIVE U OF T’S EXAM PERIOD EMILY DEIBERT STRANDED EDITOR Let’s face it—exams can be a/n time. Whether (adjective) you’re trying to remember all the different you (plural noun) learned about in your class, or trying (noun) (adverb) to finish all the practice problems assigned by your class professor, you’re likely feeling incredibly (noun) right about now. That’s why we, the (adjective) (adjective) editors of Stranded, have put together a list of (adjective) tips to help you get through exam period feeling (adjective) and -free! (noun) (1) You may feel the need to spend all your free time cramming, but it’s important to focus on yourself, too.

Studies have shown that the is particularly (body part) affected by stress. Working out at at least once (Uof T gym) a week can do wonders for your health and wellbeing.

pick-me-up while studying for that particularly (adjective) exam.

your exam and losing

(3) During exam period, Robarts will be your best friend.

(5) When exams are over, make sure to take some time

But if everyone’s favourite

out for yourself. will be hosting a/n (Uof T college) (adjective) post-exams and party at , (food) (drink) (Uof T building) complete with , , and a special musical (plural noun) (plural noun) performance by for your entertainment!

(Uof T professor)

-shaped library (type of bird) is ever a little too for your liking, you should (adjective) know that there are tons of other study spots available— in fact, Uof T is home to over

has a library to meet your needs!

(4) Time management is crucial when you’re planning for exams. Get a calendar that you can use to keep track

(2) Eating right goes hand-in-hand with taking care of

practice or

from with a/n (food) (Uof T eatery) glass of on the side as the perfect (liquid) (adjective)

grade in a course!

libraries! If you’re (number) looking for the perfect spot to while you study, (verb) is your best bet. It has study rooms So there you have it! With these tips, your (Uof T library) (adjective) (adjective) with lots of chairs to use while you’re upcoming exams will be no sweat. (adjective) (adverb) cramming. We also recommend checking out , (other Uof T library) which has recently put up a/n exhibit in their (noun) foyer. No matter what your study style, though, Uof T

We suggest , , and as the (-ing verb) (-ing verb) (-ing verb) perfect exercise routine!

your body. We suggest

percent of your final (number)

of all your exams and other commitments (like (activity) appreciation club). As well, be sure

(noun) to set at least alarms for the day of your exam. (number) Nothing will make you feel more than missing (adjective)

WENTING LI

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CROSS WORDS EVERY DAY

VICTORIA CHUEN

ARIANA DOUGLAS CONTRIBUTOR

across 1. a place of great sadness 6. gown type I don’t see much anymore now that TLC isn’t on the residence cable package 10. allegedly honest president 11. _____ Loompa 13. lady deer 14. a great lake, but, like, spooky 17. a double reed instrument 18. to share a tweet on Twitter 20. website that was popular with the children in 2005 23. literally the letter “a” 24. uh ___ 25. the next Kimye baby? (abbrv.)

26. “It’s no ___!”

29. infuriating Uof T site 31. unit of weight 32. better way of saying 37 across 35. type of knoll 37. word of agreement 38. dreaded knight phrase 39. common reaction to seeing Zayn of One Direction 40. mine product 42. Drake’s BFF on Degrassi: The Next Generation 44. tucked away 45. do____hedron 47. a note to follow “so” 48. the final thing 50. cow cousin 51. __ (x2) lemon 52. really chill 54. some cafeteria food 56. TO landmark

16 16

57. ___ as balls 59. alleged theme of “Valentine’s Day” 61. formerly relevant TV singing competition 62. Kill Bill star 64. tiny Teletubby 65. Spielberg classic 67. Twitter classification tool 71. formal term for lady folk 74. ___ Paulo 75. meh 76. uncool college 78. superstar Aubrey Graham’s character in Degrassi: The Next Generation 79. the best college 80. “__ if!”

down 1. Drake, to Holly (alt: a term of endearment) 2. Swedish for “hella” 3. the best thing on television tbh 4. a needle pulling thread 5. 1/3 of Santa’s catchphrase 6. ____ 2: Pig in the City 7. notion 8. a deer, a female deer 9. beloved bubbly treat 12. chicken restaurant 15. college I know nothing about 16. bust size of Mrs. Turnblad in Hairspray 19. the coolest paper on campus 21. baby lion

22. “__ you wish.”

27. a long, long way to run 28. exams 30. ____potent 31. old-timey instrument 33. Cleopatra’s end 34. Frozen protagonist 36. alt spelling of a sinful city 39. with 58 down, part of a hook from a Kanye hit 41. environmental prefix 43. misspelled secret organization 46. Gimli’s baby 49. word of disagreement, extended 51. __ and behold 52. animal hangout or an out of control event 53. Delta Nu Harvard Law gal 55. ____ Smurf 56. a drop of golden sun 58. with 39 down, part of a hook from a Kanye song 60. out of season beverage 63. Appalachian matriarch 66. a drink with jam and bread 68. food that is definitely not kosher 69. Potter villain ___ Riddle 70. signal for assistance 72. ___ en ciel 73. a name I call myself 77. sodium