TMU students “Draw the Line” with tens of thousands across Canada
By Simran Sidhu
Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) students joined thousands on Sept. 20 at Draw the Line, a protest that took to the streets of Toronto and several major cities to protest the Canadian government’s policies under prime minister Mark Carney.
Protesters called for changes to policies favouring corporate interests and urged action on climate change, economic justice, recognition of Indigenous sovereignty and “full immigration status for all,” according to Draw The Line’s website.
Nathan Liam, a first-year film student who attended the protest, said, “This protest is just a general protest. It’s all about us being sick of the current state of the world.” Liam connected the issues to common student concerns, citing the housing and the job market as products of the same system.
“We never recovered [from] the 2008 financial crisis, and we never recovered [from] the pandemic,” Liam stated. “So right now, these are the issues of a system that’s not worth saving.”
Construction near campus might cast shadow over Kerr Hall Quad
By Molly Simpson
Shadow projections publically available on the City of Toronto’s website show large shadows potentially being cast over the Kerr Hall Quad due to construction of a new condominium at the intersection of Yonge and Gerrard Streets.
Students at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) are concerned the shadows may disrupt a campus green space and a frequent gathering spot for students.
“The quad should be an open place. We’re all in class all day, we just chill there, get our vitamin D,” said Nasra Khalif, a first-year professional communications student.
Despite this, Derek Waltho, a senior planner for the City of Toronto, believes the shadow from this new development on Yonge and Gerrard won’t be a problem in the quad.
The neighbouring buildings have the “right height permissions” and the new building shouldn’t change what shadows fall in the quad more than what is already there, said Waltho.
The buildings in the area including the new development are all within their allowed height permissions.
Waltho said the city is particularly concerned with a shadow when it falls on parks, as well as “informal” open spaces like sidewalks.
Parks are separated into two categories with ‘signature parks’ considered more when looking at shadow reports. Kerr Hall Quad is not considered a signature park, however larger locations such as Nathan Phillips Square and Allen Gardens are.
TMU students rally in response to student arrest by campus security
By Vihaan Bhatnagar, Shumaila Mubarak and Damola Omole
Hundreds of Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) students rallied on Sept. 24 to protest the arrest of a student by campus security at a pro-Palestine demonstration at the university on Sept. 19.
The rally was announced as an emergency walk-out on TMU Students for Justice in Palestine’s (SJP) Instagram account and through posters pinned up all around campus. The rally was attended by various students, alumni, community organizations, as well as current and former faculty members.
At approximately 1:30 p.m., students gathered at Kerr Hall Quad, where various speakers condemned TMU security’s handling of the Sept. 19 incident.
“The student who was brutalized was no threat to anybody. She wanted to ensure that politicians were not platformed on our campus without confronting the genocide,” one of the student speakers said at the rally.
The incident took place at a panel hosted by The Dais featuring minister of artificial intelligence and digital innovation Evan Solomon.
In September 2024, Human Rights Watch reported there had been extensive use of AI and surveillance technologies in Israel’s attacks on Palestinians.
The speakers accused TMU of complicity in the genocide in Palestine. The SJP claims the university has financial ties to corporations like Alphabet, Microsoft and Oracle, which they claim supply technology to the Israeli military.
In an email statement from the university to The Eyeopener , they stated that “The university does not directly invest in any companies and there is no exposure in the University’s endowment fund to companies contained in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights database.”
A faculty letter read aloud at the protest said, “I call on everyone present today to not allow institutions and individuals to get away with profiting from feel good equity words without them being committed to action.”
In May 2024, the TMU faculty association passed a motion in support of “academic freedom for Palestine,” as previously reported by The Eye. The motion included a section calling for the divestment from the university’s financial holdings that are allegedly linked to the Israeli military.
“Faculty have addressed TMU administration [and] asked them to deal with the presence of militia groups on campus,” added a faculty member speaking to the crowd at the protest.
Faculty and campus groups sent TMU president Mohamed Lachemi two separate letters expressing concerns about the presence of Magen Herut on campus, as previously reported by The Eye in November 2024.
Magen Herut is a registered charity in Canada who claims to “counter anti-Israel propaganda on campuses” and provide “security and self-defense for Jewish communities,” as stated on their website.
The Eye reached out to Magen Herut but they did not respond in time for publication.
A faculty member who has been in contact with the arrested student from the Sept. 19 incident told The Eye they have learned the university has started disciplinary action against the student.
A press release by TMU following the Sep. 19 incident stated the student’s actions “appears to violate Dais’ Events Community Guidelines and TMU’s Student Code of Non-Academic Conduct.”
The incident is currently under review, according to an emailed statement from the university to The Eye
Rally organizers also read out a letter written by the student arrested by TMU Security in which she stated that the incident had left her in “shock” and “disgust.”
“I cannot say that I am surprised that an institution that has allowed rampant racism against Palestinians for almost two years now to go unchecked or unchanged in any way would eventually resolve to brutalizing its own students for protesting against this genocide,” she said.
On Sept. 16, a United Nations commission of inquiry concluded that Israel continues to commit acts of genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in retaliation for Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
A Palestinian state is now recognized by 157 of the United Nations’ 193 member states, including Canada, which recognized the State of Palestine on Sept. 21.
The arrested student’s letter concluded by asking students to remain vigilant on campus.
The video of the arrest, posted on SJP’s Instagram account on Sept. 19, currently has over 1 million views.
Aasim Ul haq Khwaja, a second-year business technology management student and a member of the TMU Board of Governors said he believes the student was “manhandled” by security on the day of the incident.
“It’s really clear that there was an excessive use of force and that was disproportionate. It wasn’t the amount of force that was needed,” he said.
“The university has to act, and they have to act fast…they have to defend free speech on campus,” he added.
A 27-year-old man was also arrested and charged with criminal harassment by Toronto Police Services during the Sep. 24 protest, as previously reported by The Eye.
The protest moved to Nelson Mandela Walk around 3 p.m. before moving to Gould Street, where it dispersed around 4 p.m.
BREAKING: Motion to postpone TMSU by-election fails
A by-election must be held this fall
By Vihaan Bhatnagar
A proposed amendment to the Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union (TMSU) by-laws to postpone their Fall 2025 by-election to Winter 2026 was rejected by Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) students at the Special General Meeting (SGM) on Monday.
The failure of the motion means the TMSU is now mandated to hold a by-election for all vacant positions by the end of Fall 2025. The results of the vote were 99 in favour to postpone, short of the two-thirds majority or 116 votes needed for the motion to pass.
According to an August report by TMSU’s independent investigators—MNP LLP, a byelection held in Fall 2025 would likely be subject to the same corruption that marred the Winter 2025 general election. The SGM comes four months after the TMSU Board of Directors (BoD) voided the April general election, as previously reported by The Eyeopener
The Eye reached out to TMSU regarding results of the SGM but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Over 200 students attended the SGM, held at the Student Campus Centre at 55 Gould St., exceeding
the quorum requirement of 100. Many people were sent to an overflow room, which was later moved to the main room due to technical difficulties with the microphones and cameras.
TMSU last met quorum for a general meeting in December 2022.
During the summer, the TMSU appointed two interim executive directors—Sally Lee and Scott Miller Berry—to run operations at the union. TMSU by-law 4.17 allows the executive committee of the TMSU to designate an interim director in the case of a vacancy on the board.
The SGM, originally scheduled to be two hours long, ultimately ran for four and a half hours, during which a fire alarm was pulled twice and multiple motions to call the meeting out of order were tabled before the meeting even started.
Toronto Fire Services said they were dispatched at 6:32 p.m. and at 8:32 p.m. to respond to fire alarm activations. Both appeared to be “malicious activations,” they said to The Eye.
MNP LLP, hired by TMSU’s legal counsel in January 2025, gave a detailed presentation on their investigation which began after the union and several others started receiving anonymous emails alleging corruption and fraud within
the TMSU, as previously reported by The Eye
The emails, sent by a person or a group calling themselves ‘TMSU Saviour,’ included confidential information such as driver’s licenses, permanent residence card information and telephone numbers. The investigation has not been able to identify ‘TMSU Saviour’ but it was later expanded to include alleged interference in the Winter 2025 general election.
The MNP LLP report included allegations of “threats of bodily harm, extortion, corruption, illegal electronic monitoring, corruption of vendors of TMSU, and countersurveillance of MNP investigators.”
TMSU has shared details with Toronto Police Services (TPS), who will determine whether criminal charges are warranted. In an emailed statement to The Eye on Sept. 15, TPS confirmed that a fraud investigation is currently ongoing.
The MNP LLP presentation was followed by a Q&A during which students asked the board questions regarding the investigation, the proposed amendment and the
TMSU’s by-laws.
“I’ve never been in a meeting where I’ve had two fire alarms,” said Michael McCormack, director of forensics and litigation support for MNP LLP in response to a question about whether individuals who are implicated in the investigation may be interfering with the SGM.
Another question asked whether individuals implicated in the investigation may be allowed to run in another by-election. Abby Deshman, a member of TMSU’s legal counsel, said any TMSU member in good standing may be eligible to run in an election.
“I knew it was gonna be intense, but the level of desperation to interrupt the meeting is appalling and very shocking,” said Jade Bailey, a fifth-year chemistry student and attendee at the SGM.
She expressed disappointment over the results of the vote, and is concerned the people implicated in the investigation might regain their positions following a byelection in Fall 2025.
Read more at theeyeopener.com
Students call for better accessibility after $2 million RBC donation
TMU students urge the university to consult them on how to use $2 million donation
By Meriem Nour
Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) students using Academic Accommodation Services (AAS) are calling for solutions to address accessibility gaps after the school received a $2 million gift from the RBC Foundation earlier this semester to support students with disabilities.
TMU announced the $2 million investment on Sept. 2 through a TorontoMet Today article. The school pledged to use the funding to expand accommodation services and improve support for students with disabilities as the demand for the AAS is increasing.
“Over the last five years, 54 per cent more students have sought help from AAS…these efforts are part of a new approach that connects different support services to help students succeed,” the article reads.
Despite the growing demand for AAS, TMU students say gaps in
accessibility still remain and the $2 million should be used to address the concerns they face.
Andre Gardenes, a secondyear sociology student at TMU, said AAS students should be consulted for funding decisions to improve accessibility at the school.
“TMU should be able to get opinions from people who have disabilities on where the money should go, because those are the ones the money is serving,” he said.
He said he believes diverse voices are essential for determining how resources and funding are allocated effectively.
Gardenes suggested using the $2 million donation to create sleeping areas for students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and other disabilities.
He said he thinks this initiative would help students better manage their schedule.
He also called for the school to fund workshops and social programs to foster community among students that require accommodations.
“There should be more ways to include neurodivergent and disabled people in community life. As someone with ADHD, I struggle to form social bonds like neurotypical people, which makes university lonelier and harder to stay motivated academically,” he said.
Julian Ciaccia, a sixth-year industrial engineering student at TMU points to navigating Kerr Hall as a major challenge due to the lack of elevators, ramps and automatic doors which create significant barriers for students with physical disabilities.
“I would like to see the money to be put into a few more ramps, a few more automatic doors,” he said.
Ciaccia emphasized that such improvements would make TMU more inclusive and create a campus environment where all students can fully
The Eyeopener Masthead
Editor-in-Chief
Negin “E gi” Khodayari
News Editors
Shumaila “Uma” Mubarak
Vihaan “Haa” Bhatnagar
Damola “Ola” Omole
Arts & Culture Editor
Lama “Ma” Alshami
Business & Technology Editor
Jerry “Err” Zhang
Communities Editor
Daniel “Ani” Opasinis
Features Editor
Edward “Dwar” Lander
Fun & Satire Editor
Dylan “Yla” Marks
Sports Editors
Jonathan “Ona” Reynoso
Victoria “Ria” Cha
Production Editors
Jasmine “Ine” Makar
Sarah “Rah” Grishpul
Photo Editors
Ava “Va” Whelpley
Rechel “Ech” Cheng
Pierre-Philipe “Hili” WanyaTambwe
Media Editors
Divine “IvI” Amayo
Lucas “Uca” Bustinski
Digital Producer
Anthony “Ant” Lippa-Hardy
Circulation Manager
Sherwin “Er” Karimpoor
General Manager
Liane “Ia” McLarty
Design Director
Vanessa “Ane” Kauk
Interns
Jocelyn “Word Scramble” Reycraft
participate in academic and social life.
He suggested that the university should create a centralized list of resources and hire disability experts to consult with students.
“Collect their needs…see their attitudes about accessibility on campus… and then implement the plan, and use the money to finance it,” Ciaccia said.
In an email statement to The Eyeopener , TMU AAS said they are committed to involving students in shaping accessibility programs.
”In the immediate term, AAS will, for the first time, provide work-integrated learning support alongside accommodation support,” the statement said.
“This will create new resources and practical opportunities for skills development for TMU students with disabilities, contributing to more equitable prosperity.”
Nasir “Comic” Adan
Eon “Maze” Kang
Contributors
Olivia “Amazing!“ Blake
Jane “Loopty-Loop” McDowell
Gray “Rebound” Moloy
Shaaranki “Comeback” Kulenthirarasa
Karanveer “Inaugural” Khahra
Peyton “NERD!” Andino
Molly “hyperlink” Simpson
Meriem “word-count” Nour
Simran “200” Sidhu
Harsh “Fun Question” Kumar
Eli “Hoops” Silverstone
Shaden “Gossiper” Aly
Harsh “Double Duty” Kumar
Adriana “Bahn-mi” Canale-Parola
Claire “Blinker” Van De Weghe
Evan “Finally in Print?” Perry
Omolegho “on-the-floor” Akhibi
Myrtle “3-for-3” Manicad
Address
55 Gould Street, Toronto, ON, M5B 15B, Suite 207
VIHAAN BHATNAGAR/ THE EYEOPENER
TMU Actors: bridging the gap between student filmmakers and actors
Two TMU students build a creative community through Instagram platform
By Olivia Blake
Toronto Metropolitan University
(TMU) performance acting students Bo Gleave-Tan and Brady Bertrand said they noticed a lack of a space for actors and filmmakers to connect within TMU. So, in their second year, they launched TMU Actors.
Created a little over a year ago, the Instagram account connects creatives in Toronto to opportunities near them.
“It’s a place where film students can message us and then they’ll request their casting call to be posted on the account,” said Bertrand. “Actors who follow the account can see it and they can audition and submit their applications.”
“There was really nothing like it before,” he added, as the two had a hard time finding acting opportunities in their first year.
The pair have posted dozens of casting calls on the account which has now reached over 700 followers since their first post in September 2024.
“Instead of being something that’s been placed upon the community, it feels like something that has organically grown to be a part of it,” Gleave-Tan said about the growth of the account.
Both Gleave-Tan and Bertrand have found acting opportunities through the Instagram account.
Bertrand was cast in The Clearing which filmed in March. “It felt like I had a glimpse into what my life could be like as an actor,” he said.
Gleave-Tan got to act in a horror film titled The Pines.
Not only did the account create opportunities for actors but it also helped filmmakers looking to cast in their upcoming projects.
Second-year TMU image arts student Hailey Hickens-McLeod posted casting calls for multiple films on the TMU Actors Instagram account. “It’s a lot better than just relying on your friends to be actors,” she said.
Hickens-McLeod said many of those that auditioned for her projects came to her through the account.
‘Ramón Who Speaks to Ghosts’ honours the impact of La Palma’s volcanic eruption
TMU alum explores the paranormal through docufiction on volcanic island
By Lama Alshami
Ramón Who Speaks to Ghosts follows its titular character as he roams through the volcanic island of La Palma, microphone in hand, searching for the phantoms that linger among the ruins.
Directed by Shervin Kermani, a graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University’s image arts program, the seven-minute Spanish-language short film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
It was created as part of film production company La Selva’s third film accelerator, led by director Werner Herzog and cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger. The program paired 50 emerging directors and cinematographers
She said it really benefited her as a student filmmaker. “I’m surprised that it’s not a regular mandated thing within the school seeing as how well it works out.”
As TMU Actors grew, the account gained recognition from actors beyond the TMU community.
Gleave-Tan said that sometimes while she’s on film sets people will say to her “I’m so glad that TMU Actors account was created” prompting her to “pipe up and be like ‘oh that was me and my friend Brady.’”
While the account started by posting casting calls for TMU student films, it has since expanded to student productions at other Toronto schools—including opportunities for music videos.
Nanli Zhuang, a master’s student in education at Lakehead University, had a hard time finding casting calls prior to hearing about TMU Actors. They said many websites
that post casting calls required a paid subscription to access full information about the casting with the contact information of directors and playwrights not accessible.
While working on a student film set in April, they had mentioned these struggles to a camera operator who pointed them in the direction of TMU Actors.
Zhuang applied for a few different casting calls on the account and was cast in McLeod’s film, Josie <3.
Toronto based actor Zara AhmedMyerscough came across the account through a mutual friend that had reposted a TMU Actors casting call.
She had a hard time finding casting calls in Toronto that would give her quality footage for her demo reel.
Through TMU Actors, she was cast in a short film, Blush, which she said gave her some great material for her demo reel that she still uses.
“I really like that pretty much everything I’ve seen on [TMU Actors] has been local to Toronto,” said Ahmed-Myerscough.
She explained that she frequents various Facebook groups who post casting calls but many “are looking for people who can self-drive to Hamilton or Barrie or places that are just out of the way for me.”
Gleave-Tan and Bertrand said they are glad the account is able to reach so many people. “It truly feels like we’re doing a good thing for the school community and even the film community that is around the downtown area,” said Bertrand.
As upper-year students, the pair have thought about the future of TMU Actors after they graduate.
“I would love to pass it on… What I would really enjoy is if TMU Actors became something that was here to stay at TMU,” said Bertrand. “It really feels like it has found its place in the community.”
together to create works under their guidance that would honour the people of La Palma.
The project was a response to the eruption of Cumbre Vieja in 2021 which lasted for 85 days, destroyed nearly 3,000 buildings, displaced thousands and claimed one life.
Shot in the style of a documentary alongside cinematographer Karla Reyes, Kermani effectively blurred the line between reality and fiction.
The film opens with Ramón introducing the viewers to many of the ghosts he is in contact with—the first being his grandmother.
He listens to the love poem of a pirate ghost who died in a volcanic eruption in the 1700s.
He watches a game of volleyball played by two ghosts on the beach. His friend, Marcelo the
ghost, smokes a cigarette, against Ramón’s better judgement. “This guy doesn’t even have lungs anymore,” Ramón joked.
All the while, we cannot actually see these people who Ramón claims he can communicate with but nonetheless, it feels real. The audience is immersed into the world of Ramón. With his fancy gizmos and gadgets—ghost communicators, antennas and headphones—he shows us a world where the supernatural exists. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that Ramón really can speak to ghosts.
In an interview with The Eyeopener, Kermani said “the ghost idea was my attempt at finding a metaphor for the disaster.”
Despite its brief runtime, the film carries the weight of a fea-
ture, thanks to Pedro Moisés Herrera Concepción’s portrayal of Ramón, who packs raw emotion into every minute on screen.
“He just became the character and he mixed his own personal life with this fictionalized ghost hunter or paranormal investigator persona,” said Kermani.
As the story progresses, we learn about the volcanic eruption that caused Ramón to lose everything.
He tells us the story of his best (ghost) friend, Paulino, who died before meeting his grandson. Breaking down in tears, Ramón insists he’s not crazy—he has feelings just like anyone else. Witnessing the lava bury homes and lives deeply affected him and now he seeks to connect with those who have passed.
Kermani told The Eye that the scene was unscripted. “He was actually having a genuine breakdown about somebody that he personally had lost. So the details of this character who doesn’t get to see his grandchild grow up, was from his own personal life, but he continued with this ghost narrative at the same time.”
As Kermani didn’t speak any Spanish before joining the accelerator, he relied heavily on Reyes for translation. “The fastest way to learn a language is to direct in another language,” he said. “I’m sweating during the takes being like, let me figure out is this the right point to cut? Should I let him keep talking? Is he onto something?”
Read more at theeyeopener.com
TMU hockey teams hungry for success in 2025-26 season
By Harsh Kumar
With the current pre-season sprint coming to an end, the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s and women’s hockey teams are gearing up to start the 2025-26 regular season.
Men’s hockey
The men’s team is coming off a successful 22-15-0 record in which they finished first in the Ontario
University Athletics (OUA) Western conference. After making it to the OUA Queen’s Cup finals, they fell short, losing 4-1 to the Concordia University Stingers.
However, their hard-fought Queen’s Cup battle would bring them to qualify for the U Sports University Cup (U Cup) Championship in Ottawa. Having lost the bronze medal game, unable to place third, the team returned to Toronto placing fourth in the championship. But
Championship hopes: TMU hoops return for 2025-26 season
By Eli Silverstone
Consistently performing and fostering exciting atmospheres, the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) men’s and women’s basketball teams are looking for another successful run in the 2025-26 season. It hasn’t been since the early 2010s that either TMU basketball squad had a season with a losing record. Last season, the women’s team ended with a 18-6 record while the men’s team ended with a 17-8 record. After a few Ontario University Athletics (OUA) playoff wins, both squads bowed out in the semifinals which were held in the nation’s capital. The men’s team lost to the University of Ottawa GeeGees and the women’s team lost to the Carleton University Ravens.
After coming one win away from playing in the U Sports National Championship, this year’s teams are eyeing a return to the final four— this time with greater results.
Men’s basketball
“Timeline-wise, we are a long way away but as far as how ready the team feels, how confident we are in our ability to reach our potential in March, it’s pretty high,” said fifth-year forward Aidan Wilson.
Wilson is one of two veterans returning to the men’s team. He and fifth-year guard Aaron Rhooms have been massive parts of the Bold’s success over the past few years with the six feet 11 inches Wilson anchoring the paint and Rhooms being awarded the OUA Player of the Year and Team MVP awards last year.
“It’s great news that they both decided to come back. They bring that veteran leadership and that experience of being in situations that maybe some of our guys haven’t [been in yet] so they can help them through those scenarios,” said head coach David DeAveiro.
After a solid recruiting class last year, the Bold are expecting strong performances from second-year guards Kevin Toth, Maxime Louis-Jean, Landon Wright and Greg Angelakos. All of them bring a trademark skill to the roster, such as Toth’s passing, Louis-Jean’s three-point shooting, Wright’s athleticism and Angelakos’ defence and hustle. With their rookie seasons under their belt, they will be key contributors to how far this team goes.
“It’s good having a lot of those younger guys come back to their second and third years, because
with Duco setting a new standard for his team.
“I think we’re fortunate to have such a great culture that we’ve really built here over the last number of years,” said Duco. “We’ve got some veteran players who know what the expectation is and we’ve been to three of the four last national tournaments and we’ve been in our league finals a couple of years in a row and we certainly feel as a group we have some unfinished business.”
For fourth-year forward and team captain Connor Bowie, who comes off a regular season with 10 goals and 13 assists in 24 games, winning it all is the primary goal of the team this upcoming season.
that wasn’t before the team broke the record for the longest U Sports men’s hockey game to ever be recorded. In the team’s U Cup quarterfinals match-up against the Mount Royal Cougars, the game went into five overtimes, spanning six hours and ending 5-4 in the Bold’s favour. With a number of new players on the roster, the team, led by head coach Johnny Duco, looks to recapture their success from last season and propel even farther. That starts
“The first and major goal this year is to win the 114th Queen’s Cup. We’ve been there back-toback years and unfortunately lost both,” said Bowie.
This hunger echoed throughout the team. For fourth-year defenceman Liam Ross, the team’s focus and effort will be able to push them over the hump.
“We just have to concentrate on playing as hard [as we can] and to our full potential each game,” said Ross. “I have no doubt in my mind that we’ll be able to make it back to the national championship again this year.”
As the fiftieth captain in program history, Bowie discusses the importance of shaping the atmosphere in the locker room.
“It starts with Duco setting the tone for me and just becoming a family,” said Bowie. “That’s extremely important. As my time as a leader of the many teams I’ve been on in my career, that’s what sticks out to me, and what that means is that everyone feels welcome as soon as they walk into the locker room.”
With 15 new recruits to the team, establishing a close and strong dynamic will be what Duco considers “a learning curve.”
“We have…a lot of new players that haven’t played in the league and maybe don’t fully grasp what U Sports and OUA hockey are like and the physical challenges,” said Bowie.
Despite a plethora of new players hitting the ice, the team had a cohesive and successful pre-season, ending it with a 4-2 record.
“We’re focused on trying to get better each and every day to see…how quickly [the team] is picking things up and gelling together—coming together as a team,” said Duco after the team’s 5-1 win against the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees on Sept. 20.
Read more at theeyeopener.com
that’s how you build a program, that’s how you build a culture,” said Wilson.
This year’s recruiting class includes nine new players, such as third-year guard/forward Deandre Goulbourne. The Centennial College transfer averaged 18.6 points per game last year for the Centennial Colts and dropped 26 points for the Bold in their first pre-season game against the Kansas City Roos on Aug. 22.
“You’re looking at an athletic guy who’s a little bit older, a little bit more experienced, but he can score, he can get a bucket,” said DeAveiro. “So now, we’re not as
one dimensional in terms of always relying on [Rhooms] to get a bucket. [Golbourne] can do that for us as well.”
The men’s team will win games with their defence and top-end offensive skill, along with help from fans at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
“We got a lot of tough nose guys, blue-collar type of mindset guys,” said Wilson. “We want to be one of, if not the top, team in the OUA and make it to nationals this year.”
Women’s basketball A few years removed from their
2021-22 U Sports National Championship victory, the TMU women’s basketball team came close last year. This season, they are working relentlessly to get back to the top of the mountain.
“Our goals are always the same—to be in a position at the end of the year to be competing for a championship,” said head coach Carly Clarke. “If we are getting better every day then we feel like we are in a position to do that.”
Clarke runs a fast moving system that allows the Bold to get out and run in transition.
AVA WHELPLEY/THE EYEOPENER
OMOLEGHO AKHIBI/THE EYEOPENER
After 81 yeArs in operAtion, the imperiAl pub is closing its doors—with it comes the end of
A decAdes-long AffAir with the students of tmu
words by
edwArd lAnder & VisuAls by rAchel cheng
it's August 2023 and Brenden MacGowan has just laid eyes on the Imperial Pub for the first time.
He’s been in Toronto for a day or two, has already moved into his suite in Pitman Hall and just sang at an open mic on campus with a few other students in the professional music program. Performing is his favourite thing to do and he’s flying high.
After playing two songs, MacGowan and a group of his soon-to-be classmates shuffle down Bond Street towards Dundas. They’re not really sure where they’re going—but that doesn’t matter to them.
After turning the corner, they notice the sidewalk is awash in a reddish glow emanating from a neon sign on a twostorey building. Upon closer inspection, they see that it’s a pub—a pretty cool looking one at that.
The students wander inside to see what all the fuss is about. MacGowan is sure it's a dive bar at first—but once inside, he realizes it's an old-school kind of place. They sit down at a table and get to talking. They chat about everything— school, music, where they’re from, what they hope to do in their futures—all to the soundtrack of jazz and the soft chatter of the other guests.
After that night, the Imperial becomes MacGowan’s spot. He starts bringing friends there, telling people in his program and floormates in Pitman Hall about it. When his family comes to visit from Ottawa, he takes them to the Imperial. He says he now goes about once a
headed to a different bar, the night either starts at the ‘Imp’ or ends there.
There are many students with stories like MacGowan’s—stories that go back eight decades to the opening of the Imperial, a bar whose past is deeply woven with that of Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and its student body.
Later this year, however, the Imperial will be closing permanently. Its owners sold the property to a developer who’s not keen on keeping them around much longer. Nov. 15 will be its last day in operation. After that, the assets will be liquidated, the leftover liquor will be drunk and the doors will be locked for good.
in many ways, walking into the Imperial Pub is like walking into Toronto’s past. You can feel the history inside and out—it’s on the walls above the circular bar in the form of images of old Toronto buildings, it's heard in jazz playing on the bar’s two jukeboxes, installed 75 years ago.
The Imperial Pub’s history and TMU’s history have always been intertwined. The bar opened in 1944 and the university—then-institute of technlogy—in ‘48. It didn’t take long for students to relish in the convenience of a pub near class. In those early days, the O’Keefe brewery sat at Victoria and Gould Streets, a colossal
brick factory that emitted a boozy aroma across campus—surely enticing students to the Imperial where O’Keefe lager was
The Library Bar—the cozy second floor dining area that feels more like a living room than a pub—is no doubt the most popular spot in the Imperial among the student crowd. This space was the brainchild of Fred Newman, the secondgeneration owner of the establishment.
hey’d gut the Am it full of books, chAirs nd couches And librAry
Newman grew up in his father’s pub. Some of his earliest memories are maneuvering between the maze of chairs, eating free peanuts and staring in awe at the bright blue aquarium between the bar’s two separated dining rooms. In those days, bars were divided into men's and women's sections.
Newman’s father Jack—who died in 2008—was an entrepreneur. When he bought the building at 54 Dundas St. E, it was a cafeteria. On the advice of his father Sam, he sold the office furniture factory of which he was proprietor and got to work on making the Imperial Pub— then called Imperial Hotel—the classy joint he envisioned it could be.
Newman spent nearly every Sunday of his childhood at the pub alongside his brother and father. When he was old enough to handle alcohol, he was moved to behind the bar. He spent many of his nights pouring hundreds of 15 cent beers in seven-ounce glasses—a size then-mandated by the Liquor License Board of Ontario. Although that didn’t stop patrons from ordering 20 at a time.
Until the 70s, the second floor was home to nine small hotel rooms—not much larger than the condos on Toronto’s market today, Newman says. Back then,
alcohol could only be served in hotels. When that law was scrapped, Newman got to decide what’d go in the space and came up with something he still considers genius. They’d gut the upstairs, jam it full of books, chairs and couches and call it a library—the idea being that students could say they’re “headed to the library,” when they’re really out for a drink.
“We did it for the students,” he says. “And the students understood it.”
Newman says the Library Bar has been a hit ever since and the steady stream of students making the journey from TMU after class has never slowed down—not even when the first campus pub opened in 1975. He says all kinds of students visit the Imperial for all kinds of reasons—and he’s right.
Each fall, after a week of orientation activities and purple-dye baths frosh leaders from the various engineering programs are known to kick back at the pub, populating the second floor and outdoor patio with around 40 upper-year students, some still wearing cyan coveralls tied around their waists.
“It will be missed by my generation of engineering students,” said Maxwell Steer, a 2025 chemical engineering grad and frosh leader several times over.
“we did it for the students,” he sAys.
“And the students understood it”
Second-year philosophy student Conor Hassaram-Leblanc says he made long-term friends at the Imperial. In his first week on campus, he attended a social there with other students in his program where he got to chat with upper-years about philosophy.
“That was sort of my introduction into how the university social life…was,” he said.
On the last Thursday of every month, the Library Bar is flooded with people in Toronto’s film and television industry. It’s a casual atmosphere where students can approach insiders with questions or
even an elevator pitch.
Farrell Candy, a Seneca Polytechnic graduate and freelance prop master says he attends these as often as he can.
“You'll run into people working on Star Trek or current Toronto productions or just a lot of film students," he says.
Candy says he met a costume designer for Netflix there one night, which led him to a freelance gig making prop prototypes for use in one of their productions’ wardrobe departments.
He isn’t sure how long the events have been running but he says he’s met industry folk who’ve been going for upwards of 10 years.
One thing is common among all these students: they’re going to miss the hell out of the Imperial Pub.
Towards the end of the winter semester in 2024, fourth-year RTA media production students and close friends Gus Cousins and Nic McAllister are sitting in class awaiting a highly-anticipated guest lecture by Toronto actor Paul Sun Hyung-Lee.
The 53-year-old rising star is hot off The Mandalorian, his titular role in the CBC comedy Kim’s Convenience and has just nabbed a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award.
Midway through Lee’s talk, Cousins’ phone vibrates—it’s a message from a classmate in a group chat he and McAllister are part of.
“We should ask him if he wants to go to the Imperial after,” writes the student.
Cousins and McAllister look at each other. There’s no way he’s going to a bar with a bunch of RTA students.
Class wraps up and Cousins and McAllister leave while others stay back for a chance to chat with the actor.
The pair are a few blocks off campus when McAllister gets a notification on his phone. It’s a photo of Lee, at the Imperial, sitting at the big table at the front of The Library Bar surrounded by 12 of his peers—all grinning.
“I was like, oh my god, these guys just convinced a dad—who had like a family to go back to and all that—to go play pool until one-thirty in the morning,” he said.
Cousins says not tagging along with them is one of his biggest regrets.
In his words—Cousins has been to the Imperial “about a million times.” It’s been
his go-to spot since discovering it in the early days of in-person classes after the university reopened during the COVID-19 pandemic. He’s met friends there, made memories and knows the staff well—including bartender Jacob, Fred Newman’s great-nephew. Even after graduating last winter and moving from The Village to the Distillery District, he remains a regular.
jAck felt students were being left out, so he built the room As A spAce for them
When Cousins found out the Imperial would be closing, he was devastated. His friends had similar reactions.
“It’s so much older than any of us, by three times over, it's just sad to see things go,” he said.
if you’re a housing developer, securing the lot where the Imperial Pub sits might feel like winning the lottery. It’s in the heart of downtown, adjacent to two transit routes, borders on the TMU campus and overlooks the bustling Yonge-Dundas intersection.
The Newmans have been receiving handsome offers on the property every year since 1997 but have only now decided to take one up. It’s the right offer at the right time, says Newman.
According to documents submitted to the City of Toronto, the land is being developed by Vaughan-based developer Bazis. The pub, along with several other properties around it will be razed for the construction of a 23-storey residential tower with retail on the bottom. Bazis’ website refers to the proposed building as a “jewel location for students.”
Though the building that houses the Imperial was constructed in 1924, it is not listed under the Toronto Heritage Register or the Ontario Heritage Act, meaning it’s not protected from demolition by the city or province.
However, when the development was first proposed in 2021, a Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) had to be completed due to the site’s proximity to the heritage-listed 105 Bond St.—TMU’s South
The assessment concluded that the property contained “minimal design and historical value,” citing that its facade has been
heavily-altered from its original design.
Nevertheless, the HIA suggested that “appropriate commemoration measures may be considered to commemorate the social history of the property,”—meaning the developer could incorporate some kind of recognition of the Imperial into the design of the new structure.
It's unclear whether the developer is considering something like this in the new tower. The Eyeopener reached out to Bazis on Sept. 9 but did not receive comment.
In Cousins’ opinion, it wouldn't matter either way.
He relates it to the demolition of famed Toronto discount store Honest Ed’s— which was demolished in March 2018 for the construction of a multi-tower rental housing development.
ada, he says. This made that first show very special for him.
“It was a really fulfilling moment,” he says. “Doing it with my friends made it all the more special to me.”
The back room at the Imperial was installed in 1960 by Newman’s father Jack. At the time, the crowd at the pub was mostly working men from the nearby Simpsons-Sears warehouse on Mutual Street—they’d stop in for a drink on their way to the subway, he says. Jack felt students were being left out, so he built the room as a space for them.
Like they would with The Library Bar years later, Newman says the kids caught on quick. They didn’t just drink there, but they’d also use it for academic purposes. Newman says professors from TMU were giving lectures there as re-
he visited Honest Ed’s many times as a kid. While the commemorations in the new development are a nice gesture, you can’t get a bargain at Honest Ed’s anymore. For him, it’s the same thing with the Imperial.
“When it closes and people who have not heard about it walk by and it gets taken off of Google Maps, nobody gives a shit about a plaque—because they want a beer,” he says.
Near the end of MacGowan’s first year, he walks onto the stage in the dimly lit back room of the Imperial. The wood-panelled space is small but around 60 people have managed to cram in. He’s opening for a friend who goes by the stage name Magenta—she’s debuting a new EP tonight.
They didn’t intend to play at the Imperial, but after a fruitless search for a venue, MacGowan stumbled upon the bar’s backroom. At that point, he didn’t even know the pub had one. MacGowan asked a staff member if they do rentals he was told ‘yes’—better than yes, actually—they could play there for free.
Magenta, MacGowan and the other opening act had all met at the Imperial on that first night in 2023. MacGowan thought it was fitting that he was now playing his very first show in Toronto at the pub where they met.
MacGowan came to Toronto because that’s where the music scene is in Can-
MacGowan also used the back room for his studies. In his professional music courses—where he and his classmates were responsible for putting together a full live music event—MacGowan chose the Imperial’s back room as a venue.
“It was close and it was cheap,” he said.
n the spring of 2024, Cousins watches his RTA classmates cross the stage at the Mattamy Athletic Centre on a YouTube livestream from his cubicle at work. He’s taking an extra semester and won’t be graduating until next winter but it’s a joy to watch his peers receive their degrees— besides, he’ll be seeing them in just a
Cousins leaves the office. It’s a nice night, he thinks. When he arrives at the Imperial around 8:00 p.m., many of his friends are already there, still dressed in rented suits, collared shirts and dresses. They haven’t booked The Library Bar— but tonight, they’ve filled it.
He makes his way past the worn leather couches and up the step onto the back patio. The illuminated billboards and screens at Yonge-Dundas cast the crowd in flickering multicoloured light. He’s surrounded by his classmates on the precipice of a new chapter in their lives, listening to jazz on the jukebox at the pub where he spent so many of his university nights.
He’s going to miss it—so are his friends and the many, many students who’ve haunted its red brick walls. But much like this time in their lives, it can’t stick around forever.
International students face rising anti-South Asian hate
Families back home are filled with questions and apprehension
By Shaaranki Kulenthirarasa
South Asian international students at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) are worried about their safety.
Earlier this month, the “Canada First Rally” took anti-immigration stances into the public eye at Christie Pits Park, sparking worry amongst the South Asian community at TMU, especially international students.
Priyanka Prakash, a third-year nutrition and food student said she and her fiancé did not leave their house on the day of the rally in fear for their safety.
“We found articles that there were more people counterprotesting than the protesters…It makes me feel better, but the fact that it’s there, it’s still going on, it’s a mixed bag,” she said.
Harshi Shah, another third-year nutrition and food student said that though the rally was not only aimed at South Asians, comments on social media were mostly targeted towards this demographic, making her feel concerned for her safety.
“At least for two weeks [after the rally], I used to wear masks and come to campus,” she said.
Apart from leaving South Asian students concerned, the rallies have caused fear amongst their families back home.
Aasim Ul haq Khwaja, second-year business technology management student said the first thing his family asks him during calls is whether he feels safe.
“They took that big burden spending all of that money [to send] me here but now they are restless and they’re scared about what’s happening,” he said.
Prakash and Shah agreed. They both said phone calls back home dominantly consist of family members asking about their safety in Toronto.
A persistent worry amongst some South Asian students is doing anything that may raise attention towards them. For Shah, this is wearing her cultural clothing in public.
“Sometimes I feel like I want to wear an Indian dress but I can’t wear it because [people would say something],” she said.
Prakash said she finds herself constantly aware of her surroundings to make sure she does not do anything that would provoke anyone.
“I do understand that people are worried [about] big changes…but I feel like that anger often lands on innocent people who are just here to study and work hard,” she said.
Many students have experienced acts of hate in the city, though mostly indirectly.
“There are always microaggressions [when] you are a person of colour that is very evident,” said Prakash.
She noted that pronouncing someone’s name wrong despite correcting them multiple times is a common example of how South Asians face microaggressions.
Ul haq Khwaja has heard people in public say they miss the times when Canada did not have many immigrants.
Though indirect forms of racism are most common, students still face explicit acts of hate too.
Shah recounted an instance where she was pushed by a man as she was walking home. She said the man proceeded to walk away but witnesses helped her get up.
“Sometimes it becomes stressful. [There] are already so many things going [on] and then if people hate you, you [start to ask if you are] safe. That always comes to mind,” she said
Usha George, a professor in the School of Social Work emphasizes the importance of having relatable support services on campus environments to help support international and domestic South Asian students.
Reading Week 101
Everything you need to know to plan your perfect break
By Daniel Opasinis and Jasmine Makar
As reading week approaches at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), events across the City of Toronto are being planned one-by-one. If you’ve been wondering what you’re going to do during your time off, fear not.
We at The Eyeopener have compiled a list of fun—and fairly inexpensive— things you can do over your October reading week.
Visit a pumpkin patch
The classic suburban reading week activity of visiting a pumpkin patch never gets old, and with 77 per cent of TMU’s population being commuters, this activity is within reach and budget-friendly.
Looking to stay off the farm? Toronto Pumpkinfest takes place Oct. 10-13 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with fun activities including fall-themed photo opportunities, a corn maze, midway rides and other attractions. The festival is just a 40-minute commute from campus on Toronto Transit Commission’s line 1 or by GO Transit to Downsview Park.
“Having counselors or having student engagement workers from minority communities is a first good step,” she said.
Some South Asian students say the inclusive campus community has kept them grounded amidst their toughest moments.
“My friends are very supportive even though they aren’t [from] the same culture,” said Shah. After being pushed by the man, her friends started to walk her home regularly.
Prakash and Ul haq Khwaja agree. Prakash said her non-South Asian friends stayed at her house with her on the day of the antiimmigrant rally in solidarity.
Despite the struggles, these students are taking efforts to not only succeed but help each other.
Shah is the executive director of events for the Faculty of Community Services Society and was an orientation events lead for incoming students. Ul haq Khwaja was on TMU’s Board of Governors for the 2024-25 academic year, where he brought forth student voices. Prakash was the co-president of the Malayalee Students Association (TMMSA), tasked with overseeing the student group.
For Prakash, who is Malayalee—an ethnolinguistic group in Southwestern India—being a part of TMMSA has made it easier to celebrate cultural celebrations like Onam—a yearly harvest festival—and Vishu—the Malayalee new year.
“It was a safe space where I could eat food with my hands and I could wear cultural clothes,” she said.
She said it was nice to see non-Malayalee students at these events who were willing to learn more about her culture.
South Asian international students say they want the rest of the city’s population to be open-minded too.
“I would say ‘how about we give it a try to [understand South Asians] before judging them?” asked Harshi.
With tickets at just $15, this is a budgetfriendly way to kick off the Thanksgiving weekend and reading week.
Get some tickets
Comedy Slam, hosted at Comedy Bar Toronto on Tuesdays, features a host of professional comedians for only $10. “This fast-paced showcase brings you top talent seen on Just For Laughs, Crave, CBC, Much Music, and more,” the website reads.
Have a slam-dunk night at the Toronto Raptors pre-season game against the Brooklyn Nets on Oct. 17, with ticket prices starting at $32. It’ll be all the basketball hype without the playoff fears.
Get spooked
The Haunted Walk of Toronto is hosting guided tours through the city’s most haunted spots. Learn about unsolved mysteries and ghost stories on a late night walk for under $30.
Want to take it up a notch? Martino Manor, a haunted house in Etobicoke, could be your favourite—or last—spooky experience of reading week. With tickets also under $30, they’re “open rain or shine, so dress for the night…and the nightmares,” the website reads. The house will be open on Oct. 16, through the last weekend of reading week.
Read during reading week
What better way to spend reading week than what all your professors think you’re doing—getting ahead on your school work.
Head to your local Toronto Public Library location for a study spot and wealth of resources. While you’re there, why not check out their archives of The Eye?
Harshi Shah (left) and Aasim Ul haq Khwaja (right) speak on racism faced by South Asian students and how they’re getting through it. RACHEL CHENG, AVA WHELPLEY, PIERRE-PHILIPE WANYA-TAMBWE/THE EYEOPENER
Doubling up: Students share techniques to dial in
Neurodivergent students at TMU find themselves relying on each other for motivation while studying
By Gray Moloy
Some students at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) say they’re using productivity techniques borrowed from neurodivergent students, like body doubling—sparking a wider conversation on the stigma surrounding accommodations in post-secondary education.
According to the Attention Deficit Disorder Association—an organization advocating for those with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD)—body doubling can be defined as: “a productivity strategy used by individuals with ADHD to finish possibly annoying jobs while having another person beside them,” their website reads. “The body double’s duty is to keep the individual with ADHD focused on the task at hand to reduce potential distractions and increase motivation.”
Fourth-year social work student Leah Young is the vice-president of events at the Neurodivergent Student Association (NDSA) at TMU. “When we were tabling at club events a lot of people brought up [body doubling] or they would say [when will] study sessions or study groups be running?” she said. “I think there is a need for it on campus.”
The Academic Accommodation Support (AAS) office currently offers low sensory hours for students a few days a week. Young has found it does not meet the needs of a lot of the neurodivergent students. “It has limited space,” said Young.
In a TorontoMet Today article, the AAS office said the hours are meant to create an environment for students to body double or work silently. However, the times offered are difficult to fit into students’ schedules, according to Young.
The NDSA plans to host virtual and in-person body doubling events for students, hoping that the times and spaces will better align with students’ study needs, Young added.
The NDSA runs a Discord server where students can chat and ask questions amongst each other, the server has a channel specifically for body doubling that students can join whenever they find the need for extra motivation.
Malka Finkelstein, first-year psychology student and a part of the events and marketing committee at the NDSA said, “body doubling is a great start to reaching out to students who might need someone to study with, even if they’re not in the same program or even the same class.”
Finkelstein and Young were very vocal about the importance of finding your ideal study habits, though felt disheartened by body doubling being branded as a viral study hack.
Finkelstein finds calling body doubling a “hack” discrediting, as it is a technique proven to help with procrastination, she said.
In the past Finkelstein had felt judged for using productivity techniques like body doubling.
“For a long time, I was embarrassed. I was like ‘I should be able
to do this without someone babysitting me.’ It felt like that was the attitude of the people around me,” she said.
“A lot of the times when you name the term for something, people kind of clutch their pearls a little bit, and they’re like ‘oh well, you don’t need to do that’,” Young said. Young has found it easier than her neurodivergent peers to have her accommodations met by her professors.
“I’ve been kind of lucky in the sense that I’m a social work student, so most of the professors are fairly aware of disability justice or accommodations,” said Young. “I have heard things from friends and people in the [NDSA] where professors will be very rude to them when they need accommodations or be very belittling about it.”
Finkelstein was previously a student at George Brown College and was surprised to learn the barriers of receiving accommodations at TMU.
At George Brown College Finkelstein says she was able to receive academic accommodations through a self diagnosis that had to be verified by a doctor, though this process is not available under TMU’s current AAS services.
Running the body doubling events will give students the opportunity to try out new study habits and feel less judged for any accommodations they may need, said Young and Finkelstein.
Young hopes the university can make changes to their accommodation process to help students with disabilities navigate it easier.
“There needs to be a stricter way of going about accommodations [so professors know] that these are the accommodations and they are needed and they can’t be shot down immediately,” Young said.
“I have mixed feelings on it because on one hand it is normalizing [body doubling], but on the other hand it also feels like it’s turning it into a trend,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be one of those things where people are like, ‘oh, this is all the rage’ for a week, and then a few months later they’re like ‘no, this is weird again.’”
As the school year moves along, students should be encouraged to try new study habits and ask for accommodation with no judgement.
“I think it’s like a don’t knock it till you try it type of thing,” said Finkelstein.
Roller coaster clubs on campus: there’s art in engineering
By Jane McDowell
Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) is home to not one but two student groups dedicated to the design and enjoyment of roller coasters and theme parks: TMU Thrill and the recently established Themed Entertainment Group (TEG).
These student groups are trying to create a sense of community
through their shared love of one thing: theme parks.
The two entertainment designfocused clubs cater to all lovers of theme parks. Whether you focus on engineering elements or on creative theming, both clubs welcome anyone passionate about theme parks.
Third-year chemical engineering student Gavin Baker is the vice president of TMU Thrill, and
says the design-focused club is one of the only engineering clubs on campus that is multidisciplinary.
“One where if you have no experience with any sort of engineering, you can still walk in and we can still absolutely use your help.”
Andre Marques, a third-year performance production student and the president of TEG shares similar views to Baker,
aiming to integrate more creative aspects and minds into entertainment design.
“You can develop a dark ride, you can have the systems, you can have the mechanical aspects, but you need the creativity to build the theming,” he said.
“You can still walk in and we can still absolutely use your help”
Marques started the TEG this September, after years of being involved in the theme park community.
TMU Thrill hosts many events including escape room building, weekly game nights and their upcoming participation in the Thrill Design Competition. Presented by Universal Creative and hosted at the Universal Orlando Resort, the competition involves “dozens of American universities, as well as two Canadian universities: TMU and Queens,” Baker said.
Kathryn Woodcock, the producer and director of the Thrill Design Competition, described the process on her blog.
“Teams receive their challenge(s) on arrival at the competition, and begin a time-pressured creative process that could see them presenting their ideas in as little as 24 hours, and no more than 72 hours,” she wrote.
The TEG has potential upcoming projects such as enthusiast nights at Canada’s Wonderland, workshops for motion vehicles and ride systems, guest speakers—specifically those speaking on virtual reality-based technology within theme parks—and backstage tours of theatre spaces, all in an attempt to emphasize the importance of creative minds in theme park design.
“I see themed entertainment and theme parks as an art form”
“When a theatre show is bad a lot of people say, ‘oh, it’s a theme park show. It feels like it should be in a theme park,’” Marques said. “And I’m like, ‘what do you mean by that?’ It just doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t compute with me. I see themed entertainment and theme parks as an art form. And I can’t stop.”
OMOLEGHO AKHIBI/THE EYEOPENER
RACHEL CHENG/THE EYEOPENER
Are subscriptions really saving for students?
By Karanveer Khahra
From streaming platforms to study tools, subscription services have become a daily expense for Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) students but not everyone feels they’re worth the cost.
In recent years, the consumer economy has shifted from ownership-based models to access-based ones. A study by Purdue University published in 2019 found that college-aged students showed a stronger preference for subscriptions compared to older demographics.
Michael Boutros, assistant professor of economics at the University of Toronto, said companies favour this model for a reason. “For a business, profit or revenue is not the most important metric. It’s all about cash flow.”
According to Hardbacon, a Canadian fintech firm, found Canadians underestimate their subscriptions, where they pay for eight but believe they have only four. This gap between perception and reality shows how quickly and quietly costs can add up over time.
Third-year psychology student Vita Christoforou said she relies on Spotify Premium almost daily. “It helps me study. I like the features it has…I can choose what music I want to play, without restrictions or ads.”
Boutros explained that students should think of subscriptions as either “consumption goods,” like streaming services for entertainment, or “investment goods,” like Grammarly Pro or LinkedIn Premium, which may help with school or careers.
“The value you get from a subscription should be tied to how often you plan on using it,” he said. “You want to make sure you’re not the kind of consumer who signs up thinking you’ll use it a lot and then you don’t.”
Third-year psychology student Shapi John said Grammarly Pro has been worth it. “In our program, we have to write a lot of papers with APA citations, so I think paying for it once a year is beneficial for me.”
Not all students, however, see the same value in subscriptions marketed as career or education tools. When asked about LinkedIn Premium, some were skeptical.
Third-year psychology student Diva Kaushik said LinkedIn Premium doesn’t appeal to her. “I don’t see the point, it’s just for connecting with people. I don’t know how much further it would go for me.” John agreed, saying, “I don’t think education is really my top priority when it comes to subscriptions.”
Some students, like Christoforou, admitted to experiencing “subscription fatigue.” She recalled being surprised by how quickly the monthly charges added up. “When I first got them, I was like, ‘Oh, this is a lot of money.’ I didn’t realize how often it was going to be.”
Personal finance consultant and journalist Rubina Ahmed-Haq said reviewing subscriptions regularly—a financial “palate cleanse”— can help reset habits. “Sometimes it’s good to just stop everything and say, ‘Okay, what do I actually miss?’ and then restart those,” she said. She also advised students to plan ahead by calculating their total budget for the semes-
From Nepal to TMU and the online protest space
By Jerry Zhang
On Sept. 4, Nepal’s decision to ban 26 social media platforms sparked a violent protest that initially left 19 protesters dead—forcing the country’s prime minister to resign on Sept. 9, and the death toll has since risen to 74 as unrest continues under a fragile interim government.
The ban not only cut off communication but also shut down online shops and student-led organizing channels. This revealed just how much young people depend on digital platforms for their livelihoods and activism, according to Abinav Acharya, a political science lecturer at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu. While the protests were rooted in widespread political corruption and economic inequality, experts and Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) students say the ban highlights a broader reality where social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok and Discord are not just entertainment outlets but essential social infrastructure.
In Nepal, shutting down TikTok and Instagram meant more than silencing criticism—it also halted many businesses.
Acharya explained that “most of the youths right now here in Nepal use social media, not just for entertainment purposes but they use it for business purposes as well.”
He explained that while hashtags and campaigns could expose corruption, online tools couldn’t finish the job on their own. “Yes, the digital media protest can be your first step towards a bigger protest…but it cannot completely finish off the movement.”
Rajshree Sharma, a third-year Nepali human resources student at TMU, echoed this sentiment. “It’s not just about Instagram, Snapchat…it’s like businesses too were shut down,” she said, noting that the ban also cut off the already limited economic opportunities for youth as online shopping has now become central to commerce in Nepal.
For many young people, the online space doubles as a space for work opportunities and an emotional outlet. Before the ban, Nepali youths used hashtags like #NepoBabies and mass unfollow campaigns to vent frustration at corruption.
Sharma said online spaces acted as a release valve for young people’s frustrations, giving them a voice. She belieives when that outlet was removed, the protests escalated: “It would not have gotten this bad if they hadn’t banned social media.”
Fion Li, a fourth-year politics and governance student, expressed the opposite—she argued that while the ban accelerated tensions, underlying systemic issues like corruption, inequalities and scarcity of economic opportunities meant protests were inevitable.
“Whether or not they kept Facebook, they kept Twitter, etc., it wouldn’t have changed the outcome,” she said. “You can only prolong things so long before something sparks it.”
The transition from hashtags to street marches reflects a broader trend, according to Kara Brisson-Boivin, director of research at MediaSmarts. “That is the real life, that is the real world to them,” she said. “These platforms are now the spaces through which civic engagement and democracy happen and take place.”
ter and dividing it by the number of weeks left, so they know exactly how much they can spend each week.
Coleen Clark, former professor at Ted Rogers School of Management and former coordinator of the Chang School’s Certificate in Financial Planning, agreed that looking at annual costs is key. “What is the cost of it on an annual basis? I think the weekly or monthly cost is too small to really have an effect,” she said.
Clark said students should also weigh the time they spend on subscriptions, not just the money, since hours devoted to them and budgeting can add up over the year.
While many companies offer student discounts, not everyone takes advantage. Christoforou said she personally doesn’t find the savings significant.
Ahmed-Haq disagreed, comparing it to skipping a deal at a restaurant. “It’s like happy
hour. If happy hour’s happening, why wouldn’t you take advantage of it? That’s literally leaving money on the table.”
Kaushik expressed she avoids subscriptions altogether. “I just don’t see enough value in the product itself to be paying for it.” Others, like John, share accounts with family memebers to soften the financial burden.
Boutros said that psychology explains why subscriptions remain attractive. “As a consumer, I might not be upset because it’s maybe easier for me to pay $2 a month instead of $50 [annually],” he said. “So there is a world in which the subscription model is beneficial for both firms and consumers.”
Clark said the key is to be intentional about subscriptions. “That’s an individual decision. The answer is whatever you want it to be but it’s important you’ve thought about it and made a decision.”
She added that online activism often overlaps with offline organization, citing everyday examples such as students who use WhatsApp to coordinate meetups or TikTok to practice routines together. “It really is interconnected. Young people don’t see the online world as distinct from their real world,” Brisson-Boivin said.
But with opportunity comes risk. Students and experts warned that the very platforms that help build solidarity can also amplify misinformation and create echo chambers.
“People are operating as their own news stations,” Li said.
“News is running faster than people can check it,” she added, noting how the rapid circulation can intensify anger on the ground.
Li stressed that while social media is a powerful amplifier, it is not the “linchpin” of protest.
“People get angry for many reasons, but it’s never going to be social media that did it.”
She goes on to say that policymakers underestimate how much online and offline life have merged. “People are their online lives…online culture is real life culture.”
Acharya sees the Nepal ban as a textbook case of this. “Digital media can showcase the real faces of politicians…it can trigger the moment, but you need people in the streets,” he said.
Brisson-Boivin described social media as a double-edged sword for youth activism.
“On the one hand, it provides [an] opportunity to facilitate and mobilize advocacy, youth activism and all kinds of wonderful causes, from protecting stray cats to environmental activism,” she said.
“And the other side of that is the exposure to all kinds of extreme beliefs, to conspiracy theory, to other forms of harmful content.”
She added that the speed and volume of online information can overwhelm young people, opening them up to vulnerability, misinformation and echo chambers. “It’s often like drinking out of a fire hose trying to navigate all that information…we know everything and nothing at the same time,” said Brisson-Boivin.
She added that marginalized youth often encounter more harmful content, leading some to withdraw from activism altogether.
Sharma raised a practical concern: organizing primarily through Discord or other platforms could leave in-person protesters vulnerable. “You never know…you also want to see how safe it is for yourself as well…you can’t protest if you’re not there.”
Read more at theeyeopener.com
PHOTO COMPOSITION EVAN PERRY/THE EYEOPENER
MYRTLE MANICAD/THE EYEOPENER
‘TMU Pisser’ scaring the piss out of students on campus
An Instagram account has emerged, threatening to rain down suspicious liquid on students at TMU
By Pshhhhhh…
Disclaimer: Although this Instagram account is troublingly real, the rest of this story is just taking the piss out of you.
A new threat has descended upon the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) campus, unlike one ever seen before.
Through the Instagram account @tmu_pisser, an individual is threatening—some might say promising—to piss on unsuspecting students at TMU.
Fourth-year outdoor survival student Bare Girls was troubled when he came across the account. “I’ve done some weird shit with piss, but this is just too much,” he said.
The account has posted multiple videos of a person pissing on several campus locations, like out of a window on the second floor of Kerr Hall. Unfortunately it’s not uncommon, as fashion students with small bladders have been using the spot for decades.
Campus security was unable to comment on the vulgar threats, stating they were “too busy.” One can only as-
sume they’re out pissing on students themselves.
TMU president and part-time urinal Lohamed Machemi was tickled with joy at the circulating account.
“Well I’m not one to kink shame you see…whatever gets your rocks off is what we’re all about at TMU,” he said.
“I’ve done some weird shit with piss, but this is just too much”
Machemi then shared an uprompted joke about the abbreviation of the school standing for “Too Much Urine.”
The Eyeopener sat down with the infamous Peepeepoopoo man, who said he’s taking the news one day at a time.
“It’s ridiculous, I mean, you spend months gathering metric tons of your own stink, and for what? Some loser on Instagram to copy you,” he said. “No one cares about Peepee Poopoo man anymore, no one asks how Peepeepoopoo man is doing.”
Peepeepoopoo man compared the situation to TMU Chairs, an Instagram account accused of stealing ideas from a much more
imaginative and talented creator who “totally did it first.”
“No one asks how Peepeepoopoo man is doing”
Sparky, a 14-year-old poodle in Kerr Hall Quad, admitted he is unimpressed with the whole situation.
“It smells awful around here,” he barked. “Back in my day we had hot golden retrievers spread-
ing their golden showers all over the lawn, not these prepubescent computer science undergrads. A shame.”
“Who knows, maybe the TMU Pisser will piss on you next, or maybe that girl walking over there, heck, maybe he’ll make his way up to the thirteenth floor of Jorgensen Hall, make a left, a right and piss on the poor fuck in that office right there,” Machemi said, biting his lip ever so slightly.
TMU Pisser was unable to comment before publication, not that we reached out anyways.
“Maybe the TMU Pisser will piss on you next”
Also if anyone asks, The Eye’s office is on the third floor of the Student Campus Centre just to the left when you get up the stairs. That’s right, the third floor.
First-year student buys textbooks like a freakin’ dork
By Peyton Andino
Disclaimer: Like a first-year student believing they should buy all their required textbooks, this story is completely incorrect.
As usual, every first-year student is being an absolute dorking loser and buying textbooks just because their syllabus says so.
At the heart of this issue stupidly sits first-year geology major Bobby Schnozwell, who was reported to have purchased every
single textbook mentioned on his course outline, with the cost coming out to around six bajillion dollars and the total number of books purchased being five.
“Eugh… Jeez, my mom said thewe’d be guys wike you”
Schnozwell was spotted by a total hunk of a reporter (definitely not me) hunched over “A Brief History of Pebbles” and snorting up whatever snot was
leftover from the dreaded freshman flu.
In the worst interview The Eyeopener has ever gotten, he said through the most nasal voice he could probably muster, “Eugh… jeez, my mom said thewe’d be guys wike you. Of couwse I had to get eweything.”
After being punched square in the circular glasses and stuffed into a locker by a bully from an 80s movie, Schnozwell continued, “appawently, all the books were witten by my pwofes -
sor. What’s the pwoblem with that? I willy wike supporting small businesses!”
There’s been a reported bullying problem on the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) campus as the bookstore’s line down Gould Street filled with first-years, who have complained about consistent pies-to-faces, atomic wedgies and noogies at the hands of guys who look like Biff from Back to the Future
The university’s consistent history of general punching down is extremely consistent with its inferiority complex but the problem has been exacerbated in recent years due to the general cornball nature of incoming freshmen.
Due to the influx of geeks, nerds and freaks, the regular folks have fled the campus bookstore, with the employees finally happy that someone came in and didn’t buy a sweater.
“I haven’t sold a single Business Management sweater to anyone today!”
“We’re out of textbooks, but I haven’t sold a single Business Management sweater to anyone today! We used to sell like five of those per minute!” lamented campus store employee Rhea Tyl-Wurker.
“At least with the textbooks gone it doesn’t smell like des -
peration and sweat…No, I lied… it still does.”
Schnozwell’s main issue continues to be the fact that walking down the hall carrying his textbooks has caused him to be the laughing stock of Kerr Hall East.
Security cameras have caught Schnozwell being pulled into the men’s washroom and given a swirlie, people throwing slushies in his face and assorted TMU Bold varsity jacket wearers laughing at him while cracking their knuckles and smirking.
“At least...it doesn’t smell like desperation and sweat…No, I lied…it still does”
Campus behavioural research expert Imna Treal stated that this makes sense due to the fact that Schnozwell is a loser, actually, and buying textbooks is for stupid dweebs.
“When have you needed a textbook? No, seriously—other than those stupid ones with codes, when has studying from one actually worked?” said Treal. “Our recommendation at the TMU Office of Discovery and Looking at your Search History (TMUODLSH) is to just copy the notes of the guy on Snapchat selling them.
First-years are being instructed to shelter in place and watch out for incoming spitballs. Or don’t. NERD!
EVAN PERRY/THE EYEOPENER
Source: sudokutodo.com
How to play
Each column and row must contain every number from one to nine without repetition. Each box must also have numbers one to nine with no repetition. Have fun and good luck!
GIVEAWAY!
The Eyeopener is giving away five $20 gift cards to Salad King Find the giveaway rules through the link in our Instagram bio.
By Jocelyn Reycraft
1. Complete the word scramble! Only 100 per cent accurate puzzles will be accepted.
2. Complete the Google Form via the QR code below and add a photo of your completed puzzle or visit The Eye office (SCC 207) with the completed puzzle.
3. Await an email! The form will close end-of-day on Oct. 7 and winners will be contacted shortly afterwards and asked to come into our office for photos!
