Volume 41, Issue 4, (March 31, 2022) by Graffiti, The Voice of NT

Enriched courses at NT are being THE VOICE OF NT cancelled

graffiti

By Victoria M and Sophie B

The sounds of North Toronto

p.g. 4 By Sofiia Savchyn

p.g. 12

A Taylor Swift listening guide for beginners

Fred VanVleet’s rise to stardom

By Elise F and Kiana S

By Janna Kazerani

p.g. 21

p.g. 30

Thursday, March 31, 2022 | Issue IV | Graffiti

WORLD NEWS

This is war; the Russian invasion of Ukraine Sofiia Savchyn Section Editor

I Torontonians gather to protest against the Ukraine-Russia war on St Clair Ave E.

Photo by Sophie Block

A sign that reads “Stand with Ukraine” is displayed in the market square of Marburg, Germany.

Photo courtesy of Kiana Sharifi

“My friend wrote her blood type on her hand in case the train station they were boarding got shelled and they needed blood transufsions for rescue.”

Photo courtesy of Sofiia Savchyn

f your house was on fire, what would be one item you take with you? No, that was yesterday. Your world is on fire. What are you doing? Are you saving yourself? Are you staying and helping the injured? Your grandmother can’t walk, your younger sibling is crying, your father jumps into the fire to fight it with other volunteers, and your friend is still asleep. What if they die? What if you die? And there it is, a real prospect of inescapable death. Yesterday, you prepared for tests, went to parties, cafes, played music, and saw friends. What are you doing today? You, friend, are reading this today. Your world is intact. If you look outside, you’ll probably see two more skyscrapers than there were yesterday. You read the news and heard about Ukraine. Or you have friends who are Ukrainian, have family there; you suck yourself into the warp of news. You are petrified because reality and madness have morphed into the same being. I fall into the second category. I was born in Kyiv and lived there for 14 years. Whenever I think of my family, I think of Kyiv. The places we went to, the stories we told. My friends, Sonya Myronova, Katya Drapushko, Eva Komadyr, with whom I jumped into a fountain on Poshtova Square to celebrate grade 8 graduation. Yes, it was legal. On February 23rd, we could talk about med school and books, boys, and travel plans. On February 24th, no one spoke of anything except to check if the other was alive. article continued on page 10

Torontonians protest in support of Ukraine on St Clair Ave E.

Photo by Sophie Block

Graffiti | March 31, 2022 | Internal

JOIN GRAFFITI!

EDITORIAL BOARD

Do you want to get more involved within the school?

SECTION EDITORS

Are you interested in meeting new people and gaining new connections?

EDITORS IN CHIEF

Kiana Sharifi | Abigail Shin

HEAD COPY EDITORS

Alya Seker | Liam McLaughlin

Be sure to follow our Instagram: @ntcigraffiti!

ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY HEADS Danielle Xin | Scarlett Yi Mikayla Toplis | Lucy MacMillan

LAYOUT EDITORS Michelle Wong Hannah Benjamin Jack Cai

BUSINESS MANAGERS Audrey Gong Georgia Pomozova-Mann Simone Bellengier

STAFF ADVISORS

Baruch Zohar | David Silver Jessica Bulgutch

ABOUT US

We are looking for new writers, illustrators and photographers! If you are interested in joining Graffiti, follow us @ntcigraffiti on Instagram for updates on upcoming issues and opportunities to sign up. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to the Instagram or our emails: kiana.sharifi@student.tdsb.on.ca abigail.shin@student.tdsb.on.ca

Graffiti is North Toronto C.I.’s award-winning, student-led newspaper. Graffiti aims to amplify and represent the voice of the student body at North Toronto C.I. by creating a unified communications platform that allows students to develop their skills in language, design, art, teamwork, and leadership. With every publication, Graffiti strives to maintain the highest integrity and provide readers with honest, relevant journalism that is grounded in truth.

CONTENTS Internal .................................... 3

External ................................... 7

Features ................................ 10 Opinion .................................. 18

Arts & Lifestyle ...................... 21 Business & Tech .................... 28 Sports .................................... 31

Humour & Games .................. 36

Internal | March 31, 2022 | Graffiti

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SOCIAL ISSUES

Male flight at North Toronto The decrease in male participation at NT. Ema Kazazi Copy Editor Victoria Man Section Editor This article uses a small sample size regarding only the biological sex of NT sutdents listed on file. The authors recognize the students who may identify as other genders.

ave you noticed fewer males in a more female dominated class, or fewer females in a male dominated setting? This social phenomenon, called “male flight”, is when men boycott activities, products, or occupations that become associated with women. Male flight isn’t a new concept. Many sociologists believe that male flight is a way for men to try and maintain their dominance in society. At North Toronto C.I., male flight is more prevalent than one might think. It can be seen that STEM courses, clubs, and other school related activities have seen a decrease in male participation over the years. Although the concept of male flight may be a new concept to you, it has impacted society forever; cheerleading, attire, and names are all tied to male flight. Cheerleading is a sport that is viewed as “feminine” and stereotypically has all-female members. However, its creation in the 1800s originally intended it to be a sport for men. Women were largely barred from cheerleading until World War I and World War II, where male participation in the army created a vacancy in the sport that women filled. When men returned from war, cheerleading had changed to become too “girlish”, and the sport was essentially abandoned by men. This wasn’t an isolated event in history; similar trends were seen with wigs, high heels, and more items that are female associated in present day. These trends continue to influence society today. More females are entering the medical field while men are leaving it, switching instead to pursuing engineering or computer science. 2019 was the first year that medical schools in the United States had more female students than male students. Although the difference was only slight, a 0.5% disparity, it represents a fundamental trend in the medical field. Contrarily, engi-

Infographic by Victoria Man neering remains a male-dominated field, with women only making up about 22% of undergraduates in the field. Male flight can also be observed at NT. Journalism, in general, is a male-dominated field. According to the Women’s Media Center, in US media, women only represent about 41.7% of newsroom employees. Despite this, in a group of around fifty students on the NT Graffiti editorial board, there are only six male members. Mr. Zohar, the staff advisor for Graffiti, said that Graffiti was always slightly more populated with female students, but this difference has become even more extreme in recent years. When Graffiti first started, there was a female to male student ratio of approximately 60 to 40. It is now rare to have a male student as a part of the editorial board, much less apply for the position of Graffiti editor-in-chief. This is also seen in STEM related clubs. Many science clubs are now nearly all female participants. The biology club and IYNA club’s google classrooms have a majority of female members, and the executives also are predominantly fe-

male.

Science courses at NT have also been impacted by male flight. This likely correlates with the increasing number of females entering certain disciplines of the STEM field. Mr. Roche confirms that biology’s male to female ratio is unequal, based on identification of sex indicated in the school registration system. Grade eleven has forty seven males and sixty eight females, and grade twelve has only nineteen males and sixty one females. Biology has shifted to become a more “feminine” science, especially because of its correlation with work in the medical field. Chemistry is more evenly distributed; grade eleven has fifty nine males and fifty five females, and grade twelve has forty three males and fifty six females. Finally, physics also shows a divide in the male to female ratio, with grade eleven having sixty seven males and forty two females, and grade twelve having thirty four males and twenty three females. The greater proportion of male students is likely due to physics’s connection to the engineering field, a predominantly male discipline. According to the 2020 statistics of

Tech Radius, eighty percent in the engineering industry are males. Moreover, computer science courses are predominantly male students, and the same can be said for the economics courses. There are very few female students that are seen taking these courses. One economics class in semester one of this year had only seven female students in the class. There are slowly more female students that are interested in taking these courses as there are more NT female students that are enrolling into these courses. If these two courses are to follow the trend seen in other courses previously, could the number of male students taking these courses also decrease over the years? Male flight can be found anywhere and everywhere; it can even be found in communities that aim to empower women, even communities like NT. Whether this social phenomenon means that there is internalized misogyny, gender role conformity, or just a series of coincidences, it is important for a community to become more aware of its existence and potential biases that it may have perpetuated.

Graffiti | March 31, 2022 | Internal

CLASSES

Enriched courses at NT are being cancelled A look into how and why the changes to the enriched course selection were made.

Photo by Kiana Sharifi Sophie Block Section Editor Victoria Man Section Editor

orth Toronto C.I. will no longer be offering enriched courses, as the TDSB is eliminating “enriched courses to allow for equitable access to all programming by all students.” Initially, it was the enriched math and French courses that were cancelled, now the enriched English and the experienced music program have fallen in-line with the government’s de-streaming directive. Faced with a dilemma of wanting to follow rules but also to provide a variety of learning opportunities, the guidance department and department heads, with the idea of foci from Dr. Lee, created a new way for students to find enriched. This will be through more literature focused classes in English and through a new streaming system in the music department; both of which allow students to self-select for specific types of enrichment opportunities. Ms. De Braux, the head of the guidance department, explained this new option and how it was created, saying that “We know that there are a lot of students who absolutely love English and want the opportunity to go more in depth and be challenged. Schools in the TDSB are allowed to have special school foci, like the Global Ed certificate. On that model, we came up with the idea of a literature focus. Students who are interested in all the kinds of bells and whistles that are involved in the enriched course (a lot more reading, more challenging books for the reader),

all of those things would be available but with no nomination. If you are interested in the focus, join the focus; you can move in and out of the focus. Now, the prerogative is the students.” NT has “always had a strong music focus in the school,” and while the program is changing, it will remain strong. The music department now has “coded grade nine beginner courses as beginner courses.” According to a slideshow created by the music department, “quality programming is accessible to all students regardless of ability or prior musical knowledge.” Ms. de Braux further expands on this and says, “students can self select into this, but the idea is that you can get into the focus in grade nine right away, if you have experience, or if you enter grade nine and you want to change your instrument or you are new to music, you can get into the focus in grade ten. This allows us to offer all the options.” Overall, students will be able to decide for themselves whether or not they wish to take on a more specifically focused course, even in music. Why has the TDSB prohibited enriched courses? Dr. Lee explained that the discontinuation of enriched courses was a TDSB decision stemming from its “Multi-Year Strategic Plan.” The TDSB writes that the focus of this plan “lays the groundwork for how we will transform student learning” by closing “the achievement and well-being gaps while keeping expectations high for all students … to ensure students improve in literacy and math and strengthen essential skills.” Dr. Lee shared that the TDSB is “committed to providing equitable access for learning for everyone, which includes removing obstacles faced by historically oppressed groups of students.”

Mr. Zohar is the head of the English department and has taught the enriched English course for the past many years. He said that “enriched courses were always a safe place for students who were anywhere from just more ambitious to more enthusiastic to not have to hide the fact that they are more ambitious or more enthusiastic.” Still, Mr. Zohar recognizes that there were problems with enriched classes. He says that “every teacher [selecting enriched students] has a different thing they’re looking for and we try to be consistent, but often it rewarded students who were very good at following the rules as opposed to the students who were most enthusiastic … It’s a shame that it might’ve kept out a student with lower grades, but who reads profusely with insight, but who isn’t very good at finishing their work on time.” Similarly, Ms. de Braux says that “overachievers were disproportionately being chosen for enriched courses.” Mr. Zohar believes that the L coded courses will be an excellent alternative to the enriched, and “may actually solve” the issues with enriched courses. He says that “the idea was really to focus on enthusiasm, so we created the L coded courses … and will allow students who are enthusiastic specifically about English to have a place where that enthusiasm is allowed to flourish.” He hopes that “there are students who say ‘yeah, this is kind of cool. I am an interested reader and I want opportunities to read with greater complexity and perhaps read a little bit more so I’m going to take those L courses.’” Current NT students in enriched classes speak of their great experiences in the class. Luke Taylor says that “the main benefit I gained from the enriched class is

that it better prepares me for the next level of the subject, whether it be Math or English.” Felicity Hughes, part of enriched English, says that her “love for English makes [her] want to learn around those who share a similar passion and respect for the course.” This is also the thought of Ruby Steinberg who “took enriched mostly because of the other people in the class.” The new courses will offer this same opportunity. For those students who have not had the opportunity to be in enriched classes, and were previously disappointed, this also offers a solution. Kavoubvand is a grade ten student and she feels that “enriched courses are a good way to challenge yourself.” Arissa Roy, another grade ten student, says that “one of the reasons NT was so appealing to me when I was in grade 8 was because of the enriched courses, but when I came, they discontinued.” Although they weren’t able to take enriched classes this year, next year, they both have the option to take the literature intensive course. Ms. De Braux speaks to these benefits, saying that the new courses offer “a really good way to keep the best part of that tradition [of enriched classes] alive,” and that the school “took a fairly massive lemon but we made some really good lemonade.” For students who want to provide themselves with courses that go beyond the average, already academically rigorous, standard, NT’s L (and P for music) coded courses will be the perfect solution. The end of enriched courses marks the end of a long era at NT, but, hopefully, creating the circumstances for equitable access to all students produces a stronger way forward.

Internal | March 31, 2022 | Graffiti

NEWSPAPER

Could Graffiti Days return?

As North Toronto returns to normal, Graffiti Days ought to make a comeback. Ruby Steinberg Contributor

s mounds of copies of Graffitti litter North Toronto C.I. classrooms and recycling bins, it’s hard not to wonder whether people read the paper at all. Of course, if you’re reading this right now, you’re not exactly part of the problem. According to Mr. Zohar, the decrease in Graffiti readers is largely because COVID means no more Graffiti Days. For many NT students, this is either a distant memory or an unknown term. Graffiti Days involved an extended homeform for each new Graffiti issue, in which an extra 20 minutes were allotted specifically for reading Graffiti. Mr. Zohar explains that this “makes a huge difference. It rewards the students who worked

on [the issue], and creates interest in other students to write for the newspaper.” Students seem to agree with Mr. Zohar’s statement assessment. Grade 11 student Keira Ayoub, says that “at home [she’s] too busy to read graffiti, so if [she] had 20 minutes [she] would definitely get through a few articles.” A lot of work goes into this paper, whether that means writing from the many contributors, the weeks-long editing, or the formatting process. Who is this newspaper for if not for the average student? And with many copies either left behind, untouched, or not given out at all, it feels uncertain that this article will make its way to any NT eyes. Now that we’re back to a nearly normal schedule, perhaps Graffiti Days can make a comeback; especially when that means more writers, less waste, and a more informed NT.

Photo by Ruby Steinberg

VALENTINE’S DAY

Zoe Rosenfeld: spreading the love How one grade 11 brightened the day of many students at NT. Janna Kazerani Section Editor

n February 14, 2022, Grade 11 student Zoe Rosenfeld brightened many North Toronto C.I students’ days with a Valentine’s Day note. Zoe made approximately 110 little cut-out heart Valentines. After school on the Friday before Valentine’s Day, Zoe went around the school putting the notes in random lockers. Initially, Zoe said that she “wanted to give a Valentines to one of [her] friends but then [she] decided that it would be nice to extend that joy to other high schoolers, especially because a lot of people probably don’t have Valentines.” Zoe’s main goal was to light up people’s days by giving kind and funny messages to NT students. All the messages were cheesy pick up lines, including “are you French? Because Eiffel for you,”. Zoe’s personal favourite was “do you like raisins? How do you feel about a date?” She took it a step further by posting this idea of hers on her Instagram story so that anyone who wanted to receive a message could. On her story, Zoe posted a drop box where people were able to drop off their locker number and she got around 10 responses. Many students had positive comments on Zoe’s Valentine’s notes. Grade 11 student Rosa

Bazaz was “happy to see the note when [she] opened her locker and it put a smile on [her] face.” Grade 10 student Jasmine Samadi said that “[she] thought the little notes were … nostalgic too because it reminded [her] of the little Valentine’s Day notes everyone would give

each other in elementary school. The quotes were very clever and cute and they made [her] happy.” Another Grade 11 student, Hana Chessell said “[she] thought it was really nice of Zoe to put in the time and effort to write that many messages.”

Photo by Janna Kazerani Zoe’s act of kindness made many students at NT happy with the Valentine surprise, and Zoe fulfilled her mission of “extend[ing] … joy to other[s].”

Graffiti | March 31, 2022 | Internal

SCHOOL LIFE

An update on the lockers at NT Rowen Uy Contributor

he second semester of the 2021-22 school year changed school life once again; NT students were given the privilege of having lockers at school. The biggest change with these new lockers is the permanence that encompasses them. Dr. Lee, the principal of North Toronto C.I., wrote in her weekly email “Leading from the North” that “the lockers assigned to students will be theirs for the remainder of their time at NT.” This means that instead of receiving a new locker every year, students will now receive one locker that will be theirs for the remainder of their time at NT. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, NT students would be assigned a locker at the beginning of every school year, which would be situated outside or close to their homeform class. The next year, their locker would change to one that was near their new homeform class. This was a change from when the new building first opened. For years, one locker for your entire time at NT was the norm. There are obvious benefits to returning to this system. First, it makes tracking students’ lockers a much easier process, especially through this seemingly endless pandemic. It becomes easier to track where a student has been and who they have come in contact with. The administration no longer needs to assign lockers to the entire school at the beginning of each

year. Instead, lockers only need to be assigned to the incoming grade of about 300 students. “I understand that this new locker system is much more streamlined from an administrative standpoint,” noted Charlie Carter, a grade 11 student. “Especially in a semestered year, it makes a lot of sense for our administration to want a system that is easily manageable.” However, there are several downsides to this system as well. For one, the permanent locker system places students at lockers which may not be close to their classes, any of them. A student whose locker is located on the 4th floor will find it inconvenient to use their locker if the majority of their classes are not on the fourth floor. Despite seemingly making contact tracing easier, this new system is not actually effective in maintaining the spread of COVID-19. Instead of cohorting lockers in a way that students will be close to those in their homeform class (with whom they already form a cohort), the lockers appear to be arranged alphabetically by last name. Charlie Carter explained that “while my locker placement works out nicely, I know there are others who are less fortunate with their locker placements. I’m sure there are many students who don’t use their lockers at all, because it doesn’t make sense logistically.” Walking the halls at NT, this becomes apparent, as many lockers are tied with white plastic clips instead of locks. Through a survey of the second and fourth floors, it can be seen that approximately 50-55%

Photo by Rowen Uy of the lockers are being used and have proper locks attached. Brayden Rak, a grade 11 student, noted that his locker assignment was particularly inconvenient. “I don’t have any classes near my locker,” he remarked. “It would be much more convenient if I had a locker on the second or fourth floor, as I have classes there this semester. Having a locker far away from my classes makes it difficult to use it during the school day.” Having a locker in a con-

venient location will encourage students to use their lockers and will result in them having to carry fewer belongings throughout the day. Regardless of their location, it gives us a place to store our personal belongings, to make it easier to maneuver around the hallways with fewer textbooks and binders. Throughout the next few years, students will learn the benefits and drawbacks of permanent lockers, and hopefully learn to utilize them to their advantage.

NTCI ALUMNI

NTCI Foundation Supports Graffiti Elena Vlitas Section Editor

Photo courtesy of Kiana Sharifi

raffiti is grateful to the North Toronto C.I. Foundation for providing partial funding to support printing costs. Every year, the NTCI Foundation supports student initiatives through their Dragon’s Den initiative. Graffiti publishes five issues annually to enrich student learning through the research, writing, and reading involved in journalism. Thanks to the NTCI Foundation and the members of the NTCI Alumni Association, the Graffiti Editorial Board and NTCI student body will continue to benefit from the tradition and excitement of print news. This allows the NT community to maintain the longstanding tradition of Graffiti, a paper that has been in print at NT since 1981.

Graffiti | March 31, 2022 | External

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RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

The Russian invasion of Ukraine The world’s response to the invasion of Ukraine. Severyn Gomolka Copy Editor

n February 24th, 2022, explosions were heard in several Ukrainian cities following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement of a “special military operation.” Putin had begun a full scale invasion into Ukraine, an event that has been anticipated since 2014, and especially in the past year. In 2014, Putin annexed Crimea, a peninsula in southern Ukraine. This means that Crimea is effectively under ownership of Russia, but is internationally recognized as Ukrainian land. In early 2021, it was evident that the Russian military looked like it was preparing for an attack, as troops were seen mobilizing to the Ukrainian-Russian border. When Russia invaded Ukraine, people all over the world kept up to date with this news story, finding this invasion unlawful. Since the invasion, there has been an outcry of support towards Ukraine from communities and countries across the world. United States President Joe Biden responded to the news by putting sanctions and restrictions on Russia. The White House specified in a statement, “this includes Russia-wide restrictions on semiconductors, telecommunication, encryption security, lasers, sensors, navigation, avionics and maritime

Torontonians protesting outside the Russian embassy in Toronto. technologies.” The sanctions also applied to Russian banks, which has had a noticeable effect on the Russian economy. According to the Moscow Exchange (MOEX), Russian stocks have plunged 33%. The Russian ruble hit an all time low, with one dollar being equivalent to 97 rubies. This has put the Russian economy in the worst state it has ever been in. However, it is difficult for countries to effectively sanction Russia because of its role in gas exports. Europe receives 40% of their natural gas and oil imports from Russia, and some countries in

Europe receive up to 70% of natural With a full scale attack on Ukraine, many Ukrainian citizens are fleeing their country. The United Nations Refugee Agency says that over 120,000 Ukrainian refugees have already left the country. Polish President Andrzej Duda announced soon after the invasion that Polish borders will be open for Ukrainian refugees; these refugees do not need a passport to enter Poland. The Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that more than 115,000 Ukrainians have entered Poland. Other countries such as Romania, Moldova, Slovaki,

Photo by Sophie Block and Hungary have done likewise, opening their borders to Ukraine. Ireland announced a day after the invasion that they also made the decision to lift Visa requirements for Ukrainian refugees. Furthermore, even within Russia, there is anger against the invasion. Thousands of Moscow citizens marched across the city, protesting against the Russian invasion. The riot police were soon called in, and outnumbered the protesters. Over 5,000 protesters ended up being arrested and detained.

WORLD NEWS

Afghanistan: still happening The ongoing issue in Afghanistan. Malek Jastaniah Contributor

ince the end of the cold war in the late 1980s, Afghanistan has been in a state of political turmoil. The main reason behind this was the formation of the Taliban in the early 1990s. The Taliban began as an armed group in the 1990s as a result of Afghanistan’s civil war. It only took a few years for the group to gain enough power to rule the majority of the country, establishing their own rules and regulations. They forced citizens to abide by

these through threats and violence, taking control of Afghanistan at a rapid pace.. Under their rule, women and girls suffered the most. According to Al- Jazeera, a Qatari government-funded news channel, women and girls were not allowed to attend school in order to get an education or leave their homes without the accompaniment of a male relative. Additionally, the playing of music was banned, among other daily activities. Years passed with seemingly no help from other countries, leaving the residents of Afghanistan as captives in their own homes. It was only on October 7th, 2001, that the situation finally

changed. On this day, the US invaded Afghanistan in response to the 9/11 tragedy. The US injected billions into rebuilding Afghanistan’s government, education, and security, causing Afghanistan to rely heavily on the support of the US for many basic human necessities. After twenty years of war, the US declared that they were withdrawing all troops from Afghanistan on the 30th of August, 2021. Since that day, the Taliban have seized control of Afghanistan again, leaving the citizens of the country fearing that they are back where they started twenty years ago. Many videos have been circling across social media platforms

of Afghan residents hanging onto the outside of departing American planes in a desperate attempt to escape the country. The official United Nations Refugees website states that approximately one million Afghani children faced malnourishment in 2021, just one of the countless issues brought on by the unstable situation in the country. It is evident that much work is still needed to help Afghani citizens. While the Taliban has promised gentler rules, they are still far from what people living in North America have come to expect. It is like comparing a match to a lightbulb — thus, a fight for equality and human rights must rage on.

Graffiti | March 31, 2022 | External

WORLD NEWS

The refugee crisis: an ongoing issue Why the refugee crisis is so important.

Keira Ayoub Contributor

he refugee crisis exploded in 2015 when millions of migrants fled from political unrest in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, settling in several southern European countries, including Greece, Italy, and Portugal. These countries suffered economically and socially under the strain of approximately 1.3 million asylum seekers. This crisis spread like wildfire, making headlines worldwide. Since then, regardless of the fact that the refugee crisis is an ongoing issue, it has faded to the background of the media. News outlets have been occupied with

the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and information about the refugee crisis can only be found if specifically searched for. Although it may seem as if the refugee crisis is no longer a serious concern, there are currently as many as 24.6 million refugees worldwide. Some of the most urgent and current crises are in Syria, Venezuela, and Afghanistan. Since 2011, Syria has been engulfed in a civil war that has left the country in pieces. The United Nations refugee agency states that as of 2021, over 12 million Syrians have been displaced and are in need of humanitarian assistance. Those who were able to flee Syria are living in over 125 countries, although most are in neighboring countries such as Greece, Turkey,

Lebanon, and Egypt. The Venezuelian refugee crisis is another one of the most pressing world issues. To date, approximately 4.6 million people have fled Venezuela as a result of several years of economic hardship and political instability. Specifically, there are food shortages, a lack of medicine, and a decrease in security. Thousands of Venezualians are now struggling to establish themselves in nearby countries, and are at risk of sexual exploitation, human trafficking, violence,and abuse. As well, Afghanistan has endured years of conflict, resulting in economic hardship and social instability. In response, over 2.7 million people have fled their country, migrating to Iran, Paki-

stan, and various parts of Europe. Not only was Afghanistan ranked the least peaceful country in the world by the Global Peace Index in 2021, but, in the past decade, the country also experienced its worst drought, leaving approximately 14 million people food insecure. It has become evident that although the refugee crisis may have disappeared from the media, it is still a serious concern. For the past two years, the majority of news channels have reported primarily on COVID-19, pushing all other crises into the background. As a result, it is important for us as individuals to take the time to educate ourselves about issues such as the refugee crisis that are not getting the necessary media coverage.

PROTESTS

The Ottawa trucker convoy The biggest protest in Canadian history.

Jasmine Noone Copy Editor

n over two years of experience with the pandemic, the implementation of restrictions has been inconsistent. We have gone into lockdown and out of lockdown; restrictions have been created and lifted. Many Canadians have found this back and forth between restricted life and freedom — between hope and despair — a cause of frustration. As Canadians’ vexation and restlessness increases, so too does opposition and protesting, as shown through the recent Ottawa trucker convoy, which reached an incredible peak of 8,000 participants. On January 12th, 2022, a mandate was enforced on both sides of the US-Canada border that required Canadian cross-border truckers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Since January 28th, truckers have protested the new rule and terrorized Ottawa by blockading streets, honking loud horns at night, harassing citizens, and forcing business closures. Throughout the three weeks of the convoy, demonstrators have harassed and threatened reporters, healthcare workers, citizens, and staff and residents at Shepherds of Good Hope, an Ottawa homeless shelter. As well, many businesses in downtown Ottawa have been forced to close because the protests have clogged streets and reduced business. The situation in Ottawa persisted, encouraging the expansion of the movement around the world, and inspiring similar

Trucker convoy protest at Yonge and Irwin. protests in the US and France. As well, such inspirations shut down at least two US-Canada border crossings, one of which blocked the border in Coutts, Alberta, a major route used for cattle trade. The goal of the convoy is to have the trucker vaccine man-

date and all general pandemic restrictions lifted, but it has also become a demand for the resignation of Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Although these protests originally started as a reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers, they more

Photo by Iva-Mari Miskulin truthfully reflect the general, increasing frustration caused by the pandemic. Rather than being central to the protests, the newly enforced mandate was a tipping point for protesters. continued on the next page...

Graffiti | March 31, 2022 | External

Photo by Sophie Block

Trucker convoy protest at Avenue and Bloor. The battle against the vaccine mandate has not only become a stalemate between truckers and the government, with neither side wanting to back down, but it has also become a far-right movement and an outlet for oppressive views, with some protesters being seen waving confederate and Nazi flags. As such, many believe that demonstrators are using the convoy as a platform for their hateful messages and vandalism because of the strong media coverage of the convoy, contributing to the spread of racist, antisemitic, homophobic, and transphobic views. Many opinions have been swayed by sympathetic news anchors in charge of coverage of the convoy, although countless opposing news sources touch on the extent to which these protests have impacted the general consensus on COVID-19 restrictions and mandates. Through polls and surveys such as the COVID-19 monitor, which surveys Canadian attitudes towards the pandemic, it has been found that the majority of Canada’s population is supportive of both the pandemic restrictions and the political place Trudeau holds. It is clear to many that the efforts of protesters have been entirely ineffective; they have failed not only at getting the population on their side, but also at bringing change to pandemic restrictions. Additionally, an incredible 90% of truckers, some of whom are participating in the protests, have been vaccinated against COVID-19, further proving that the protests have failed to win even the support of its own trucker demographic. Although the movement has been ineffective with regards

to pandemic restrictions, it has become a great concern from an economic standpoint. The Ambassador Bridge that connects Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, was blocked by the convoy, shutting down a vital economic link with the United States. With about a quarter of US-Canada trade coming across the Ambassador Bridge — with no good alternative routes — the blockade caused a huge commotion. President Joe Biden was forced to get involved and discuss the issue by phone with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau because of the significant economic consequences the United States would face. The blockades have put a lot of stress on the US-Canada supply chain, and have cost a staggering $300 million in economic damage. Another concern with the convoy is Canada’s reputation as a supplier for trade. As a result of the damage to Canada’s reputation, there is the possibility that Canadian factories for the production of electric vehicles and batteries would be cut out by the US. Because of these immense economic risks and the threat to Canada’s economy, governments are being forced to act. Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, announced his plan to end vaccine requirements for restaurants and indoor venues, using this announcement to encourage protesters to go home peacefully. But, with politicians scurrying to curry favor with their electorate as election dates loom, doubt escalates as the question is raised of whether or not to believe their plans are true. In order to stop the protests, the Canadian government planned to use provincial and municipal police forces, with national police

backup if necessary. On February 6th, 2022, a state of emergency was declared by Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson. In response, Trudeau deployed hundreds of Royal Canadian Mounted Police to the protests to try to gain control. As well, in an attempt to deal with the influx of alleged hate crimes being reported from the protests, Ottawa police set up a special hotline, which received over 200 calls in the first week of February alone. Two weeks into the convoy, Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly resigned after struggling to manage the protests and receiving much criticism. The new interim chief, Steve Bell, told the public to expect new things from the police, and promised the protest would very soon come to an end. In an effort to remove the convoy’s blockades after threatening huge fines and jail time, police began arresting protesters. On February 17th, 2022, Tamara Lich, Chris Barber, and Pat King, three of the main leaders of the Freedom Convoy, were arrested. They are facing criminal charges and a class-action lawsuit, and made their first court appearances in Ottawa on February 25th, 2022. This trucker convoy, as well as other protests and general opposition against COVID-19 restrictions, have shown the remarkable extent to which people’s attitudes towards the pandemic have changed. In 2020 and 2021, as lockdowns were introduced and the pandemic took over people’s lives, many citizens showed their support for the hardworking healthcare and frontline workers by banging pots and pans for a few minutes every evening. The major-

ity of the population sympathized with healthcare workers and were grateful for the sacrifice they were making as they risked their lives amidst the pandemic. But, as the pandemic progressed and it became more difficult to see when the end would come, the understanding of the population decreased and the demand to end safety mandates increased. This combination was not one that led to unity and working together to ensure safety. Rather, it led to protesting mask and vaccine mandates, even though these mandates are the steps towards the end of the pandemic. Amidst the convoy, some healthcare workers had been advised not to wear their hospital badges and to stay indoors as much as possible to prevent the danger of harassment for supporting pandemic restrictions and vaccines. The trucker convoy captures the conflict between social expectations and individual desires, the feelings that have accumulated, as well as the extensive changes in society brought on by the pandemic. The protest is a symbol of freedom for some and frustration for others, but ultimately it’s a symbol of change. As poet W.B. Yeats said, “All changed, changed utterly, a terrible beauty is born.” Hopefully, out of all this turmoil caused by the pandemic, some good will emerge and allow for the evolution of society. Science and medicine have certainly evolved, learning how to communicate, collaborate, and break down bureaucratic barriers in order to combat COVID-19. It is time for politicians to follow suit; to form a new perspective and abandon their divisiveness.

features

Graffiti | March 31, 2022 | Features

WORLD NEWS

This is war; the Russian invasion of Ukraine Sofiia Savchyn Section Editor article continued from front page

re you ok? Eva: “Sof, I’ll text you later. This is hell. They’re bombing Kyiv; we’re going into a shelter.” Are you ok? Katya: “My chest hurts. I can’t breathe. Every time a fighter jet flies close by, I fall to the floor. A shell could fall any second.” Are you ok? Eva: “I’m scared.” The war that broke out in Ukraine at Vladimir Putin’s order ripped through the lives of all Ukrainias. Students, 14, 16, 18 years olds, grew up overnight, fighting the terrors they read about before, volunteering in the territorial guard or as medics. That night, and every subsequent night, ‘how are you?’ meant ‘I love you.’ In the morning, NT students went to school. The weather was warmer than usual. Eva: “My classmate and his dad were killed last night. My dad joined the army and told us to leave. There’re block posts throughout the city. No cars in the streets, military vehicles only.” Any plans or hopes young people had turned to ash in a blink of an eye. All classes were postponed indefinitely. The main goal for all future musicians, doctors, programmers, cooks was to save themselves; the rest will follow. They left their homes with whatever they had: a pack of documents and some food. That is what they took when their world was on fire. When the Russian rockets started targeting children and maternity hospitals, kindergartens, schools, apartment buildings; when the Russian troops left heaps of bodies on the city sidewalks and in villages they passed through. Over 2.5 million Ukrainians were forced to flee from their homes. Some were lucky to have family elsewhere. Some were headed into limbo, leaving everything behind. Sonya: “I can’t reach my sister. My parents are in Poland right now. The sirens are blaring. I can hear the shootings but I’m not going down into the bomb shelter. I dragged a mattress from my room and into the hallway. We have a 2-liter dark beer bottle in the fridge that I took with me. I’ve been on the floor for hours, drinking. Thank god I did; I was hysterical. We need

to get out.” The trains that carried the refugees were overfilled, and compartments designed for four people now held 15 and two cats. Sonya recalled that “there wasn’t a place to stand, let alone to sit.” To squeeze in, people “left all their baggage right there on the rails, taking only the essentials. The train station was booming with opened suitcases lying around.” Despite the rising tensions, the chaos, and the anger that boiled in the overfilled train compartments, the nation’s spirit did not stagger for a moment. Civilian volunteers armed themselves to defend their cities, chemistry students making Molotov cocktails, railway workers transporting the refugees, programmers launching cyber attacks on Russian propaganda websites proved that above all, Ukrainians will fight for freedom to their death. “We will lay our bodies and souls for our freedom and will show that we, brothers, are of Kozak kin,” is the chorus to the Ukrainian national anthem. Since the declaration of Ukrainian independence in 1991, it proved itself during two revolutions. The Orange Revolution in 2004 and the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, fought against government corruption and Russian dictatorial influence on Ukrainian politics. Civilian protesting was met with beatings, arrests, and sniper shootings. One million people marched the streets of Kyiv in 2014, and 123 civilians were killed. As a result, Ukrainians threw out a Russian marionette from their president’s seat and paved a way for themselves to adhere to European and democratic values. The fight for independence and human rights in Ukraine did not start this year, but has been a decades-long war. A war with Russia that aimed to crush Ukrainian soverenity. Echoing the sentiment of pride, Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, stated, “We are fighting for our lives. We have not become slaves and will never become! Because this is our spirit, this is our destiny.” Ukraine will not be conquered, nor its body, nor its soul. However, with a curtain of fire over the Kozak sky, the future of all Ukrainians is uncertain. In a recent poll, 77% of Ukrainians believe that their country will become stronger after the war, yet many refugees may decide not to come back. For all its glory, life before the war was a far cry from perfect for most people. Young people are divided; some see themselves back in

Photo by Wolfgang Schwan their homes, and some are choosing to move on and build a life in a new country. Either of the options comes with significant challenges. Yaroslav Kusnetsov, a university student who moved from Kyiv to Brno, Czechia, said, “My English level isn’t good enough to study comp sci and math somewhere else. [Local universities] don’t accept mid-year applications, so now I have about five months to learn Czech and apply in September.” The choice to move permanently comes with an additional burden of guilt, especially for draftage men. More and more teenage Ukrainians share their “shame” and “feeling like traitors” for leaving their homes when so many didn’t. Sonya cautions against this, saying “you must never judge a person running for their life, because there is nothing more important than human life. Period.” Young people who ran to save their lives and the lives of their parents must not be judged for cowardice because only they know the true horror of this war. Once your only instinct is to survive, all the other concerns evaporate; what are your grades, how you look, what other people think of you. “You know,” Sonya continues, “I never thought a clean pair of underwear could make me so happy. Of course, once you’re safe, your problems come back, but

you start to realize that as long as you have a roof over your head and a person close to you, you don’t need much more.” The greatness of compassion and kindness displayed by the neighboring countries Poland, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, and beyond can not be understated. They are the driving forces that allow millions of people to escape the inhumanities of Russian aggression. As I have this opportunity, I want to thank them. Every volunteer who meets the refugees at the border, every kind stranger who lets a woman with a child spend the night, every railway worker, every medic, every concerned citizen. For every tear and drop of sweat, I thank you. You kept my friends and family alive, and for that, I could never repay you. It is hard to imagine what we can do to help in a war-free country. Sharing fact-based information, talking to people closer to the issue, and keeping the conversation alive is essential. Sonya, Eva, Yaroslav, are at the exact same stage in life as you. They have a dream university, a dream job; they want to fall in love, maybe they get together with their friends to play music or rock climb. They have a life they cherish, a life they lost. Their world is on fire, but so is yours. So, what will you do?

Features | March 31, 2022 | Graffiti

SOCIAL MEDIA

Why Gen Z is a desensitized generation Despite the fact that most other generations are desensitized to their own issues, the desensitization of Gen Z is a particularly significant issue in today’s world.

Victoria Man Section Editor Sofia Muruve Contributor

o you like dark humour? Did you play apocalyptic and/or shooting games as a child? Did you stumble across a completely traumatizing mature movie when you were younger? Both of these things and others more or less relate to the collective desensitization of our generation as Generation Z. What is desensitization? According to Dictionary.com, desensitization is “the act or process of becoming less sensitive.” For Gen Z, growing up during the rise of internet access has caused many of us to be extremely desensitized. For many reasons such as being exposed to societal issues through the internet, social media, entertainment media, and even our curricula, Gen Z has been desensitized to the point of almost normalizing our desensitized behaviour. Despite the fact that most other generations are desensitized to their own issues (e.g. domestic abuse and/or substance abuse) the desensitization of Gen Z is a particularly significant issue in today’s world. Internet access, social media, and entertainment. What is the correlation between these three concepts? They all in some way relate to the unsupervised access that is given to all users and/ or viewers in the modern day. Age limits or warnings do little to “restrict” access to the internet and have many loopholes in addition to most websites not caring about restricting their content. Gen Z, having grown up during the rise of the internet, have been exposed to practically everything and anything. From voluntarily playing GTA as a young child to coming across videos of gore, this unsupervised access caused much of Gen Z to be exposed to violent and/or mature content on the internet at a young age. As young children, taking in content not appropriate for our age could cause an overload of unknown emotions to arise as a lot of our perspectives as children are still underdeveloped. From there, we grow used to seeing mature content on the internet and thus become desensitized to a variety of topics. Older generations might not have experienced desensitization to the degree that Gen Z has since they did not have the widely available access to the internet as we do.

On social media, there is clear evidence of the desensitization of our generation. Dark humour videos are common on apps such as Tiktok, and they often relate to ableism, homophobia, racism, sexism, and the normalization of tragic events. Many people in the comment sections of these dark humour post and encourage these jokes. The same idea exists on other social media platforms popularly used by Gen Z like Instagram, which also have memes relating to topics that we as a generation are desensitized to. For example, degrading dark humour jokes regarding the Holocaust can be easily found on TikTok. Comment sections on these dark humour Holocaust videos disregard the severity of the issue, showing how people encourage the jokes made by desensitized people on social media. This causes a chain reaction to occur. When one person in our generation who might not be desensitized to certain topics gets exposed to a community of desensitized people, it may encourage them to also become desensitized as they see it as something normal. Sometimes they might even begin to doubt their own feelings or opinions after being exposed to a desensitized community. This type of chain reaction is caused by algorithms that repeatedly show users familiar content. When so-called “dark humour” becomes familiar, this is when desensitization happens. With desensitized jokes, the topics are mostly always something we’ve seen through a screen. Other people who have been directly affected by a disaster would obviously be sensitive to the topic. The progression of society from the past has now given us more freedom to say what we want. With that, lots of people in our generation think more freely and judge less — both a positive and negative result of the progression. Before we move forward, let us also touch on how news has become such a prominent aspect of our modern world. We get constant reports of disasters all around the world through a screen. When something is viewed through a screen and processed so quickly, it is difficult to understand that it is real and impactful. In other words, there is a lack of emotional processing. When seeing disasters through our TVs or phones or laptops, most people in our generation just move past it, not really understanding that though the disaster might not affect us, it is affecting other people. Now, there are some benefits to the desensitization of Gen Z, even if you might think not. With being more open about some sen-

sitive topics now than in past generations because of our desensitization, topics like mental health, abuse, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, racism, sexism, etc. are able to be destigmatized more by Gen Z. Destigmatizing these topics can and actually have encouraged people to reach out for help when needed. As well, more people in the modern day are able to get educated about such things. Overall, Gen Z is much more open minded to a lot of different things due to our desensitization, which surprisingly is also helping some people who would never have felt comfortable reaching out for help otherwise. There are also some obvious disadvantages to our generation being desensitized to important issues. The biggest one being that our generation is, well, insensitive. After regularly consuming content that makes light of serious problems, how are we as a generation still supposed to take them seriously? As a generation we are becoming apathetic to serious problems in the world, and experience less empathy for those stuck in the middle of them, because they are so commonplace in our media consumption. Whether it’s the news, social media, or the odd meme found off of a google search, evidence of our collective desensitization can be found anywhere you look: and the consequences aren’t pretty. For example, simply searching up “9/11 memes” can lead one to find countless jokes in the images tab on Google, on online forums, in ads on blogs, and many other internet destinations that make light of the tragedy. There are many other examples which give the same result on the internet. We laugh at “dark humour” because we are desensitized to the severity of these problems, and decide to have fun with it instead. Jokes about racism, sexism, ableism, and homophobia are quite common, and to a certain extent we all take part in this sick schadenfreude that results from these issues being normalized, and eventually accepted, on the internet for a few laughs, clicks, or likes. Many people do not want to be desensitized to the issues of the world around them. If you are concerned about this, you’re not alone. It is easy to become numb to the severity of serious problems, especially because we, regardless of age, are all bombarded with them every single day. Luckily, there are steps you can take to avoid this while watching the news, scrolling through Instagram, or watching TikToks. One of the most effective ways to do this is to be mindful about what dark humour or sensitive content you consume. Considering desensi-

tization is partly due to an absence of emotional processing; taking a moment to think about what is behind the joke or news story can help you have some perspective. If you regularly watch the news, try to take a moment to think about each story (if it’s not too disheartening). Reflecting on what is happening in the story is a way to acknowledge that it is more than just a headline, and in doing so you fight back against the process of desensitization. This strategy can also be applied to dark humour online: try to think about the event or ideology that could be behind the joke, then use your own judgment (and some empathy) to decide if the joke has crossed a line. Second, tread lightly when talking or joking about sensitive topics. Back to 9/11 memes, if you were to ever come across one, there are several perspectives to keep in mind: How might this event have affected the families of the victims? The children left without parents? The survivors that grappled with their trauma after the event? 9/11 jokes are not funny to them, so why should they be funny to anybody else? There’s a difference between joking about your own trauma and having your trauma joked about by someone who doesn’t understand it. Experiencing the latter can be invalidating and hurtful to someone who’s been affected by a traumatic event, so take a moment to think about the perspectives behind the joke. Overall, the desensitization of our generation is not something to be taken lightly. It decreases stigma around certain issues such as mental health, and can help combat racism, sexism, homophobia, and more. However, desensitization can also cause a lack of empathy in everyday people, especially when reacting to tragic events on the news or jokes about them on the internet. So, being careful about what media you consume and how you react to it can help you decrease the disadvantages of desensitization. While dark humour is fine to some extent and can actually be funny, it must be recognized that it can go too far. If you see someone in your life who is consuming inappropriate dark humour, consider stepping in. There’s a difference between destigmatizing something and being desensitized to something, and knowing the difference can help you retain some compassion for others and their unique struggles.

Graffiti | March 31, 2022 | Features

MUSIC

The sounds of North Toronto

Alumni and students share the importance of music within the school’s walls.

Photo by Kiana Sharifi

Sofiia Savchyn Section Editor

ou arrive 2 hours ahead of time, hustling and bustling because ‘on time is late,’ and you are wearing the wrong shoes. Your brain is cloudy with excitement and anxiety, but you relish it. You turn into a marathon runner in the hours before every school concert; there is always too much to do and not enough time. Your friend asks if their tie is alright; another frantic student runs around begging for a pair of black socks; nervous buzzing all around — what bliss. For two years of online classes that “seemed somewhat pointless,” North Toronto musicians fueled themselves with memories of the 2019 Fall Fare, shares Sam Baldachin, a grade 12 band student. He recalls that some were “thinking about dropping music” entirely. With no live performances, the “exhilarating feeling of getting together [and] seeing the audience” was gone, and “[music] was kind of dead,” says Justin Lee, another grade 12 student. Music is meant to be heard, and when your plants, walls, or annoyed siblings become your only audience, it is easy to lose sight of what you loved. For North Toronto alumnus Andy Maize (‘78), one of the co-founders of the band Skydiggers, “it was hard to feel inspired”

at the beginning of lockdown, but “music was like comfort food.” Music can be gratifying and has been proven to improve a person’s motivations and cognitive abilities. A recent study has shown it to assist with maintaining good physical and psychological health (Izbiki, 2020). Sam concurs, saying that “the only reason [he is] somewhat fit is because of drumming. [...] It’s a full-body workout.” After a year of at-home workouts, we can finally sign up for the group spin class: to get back to playing music the way that we know it. Together. Despite the return of regular rehearsals, the sparks that flew in classrooms in 2019 seem to have dimmed. The uncertainty surrounding possible performances and the future of the program takes its toll on motivation and attendance. However, it is essential to remember the importance of NT performances and ensure the continuation of music at our school. Charlotte Cornfield (‘06), an alumnus and singer, called “Canada’s Best Kept Secret” by Rolling Stone magazine, reminisces about her favorite Maytime Melodies. “We were playing an ABBA medley, and I was in the back playing percussion with my friend Ira, and we were getting really into it. I was playing timpani and just having a great time. And then afterward, someone told me I was too… too into it,” she laughs. Andy Maize shares a story of his own. Back in 1978, there was

no Fall Fare, but instead, “there was a HiJinx fundraiser.” What is that? Well, “it started as a fundraiser for a young man injured playing football. It was a variety show, a talent show. You had to audition.” Andy smirks. “Well, it was me, John Cooper and Jeff Somerville. Good friends of mine. We’re in grade 13, and we did a James Taylor song called ‘Damn This Traffic Jam.’ We were wearing cardboard boxes painted and decorated to look like cars.” Suddenly he breaks out into a song, playing air guitar, “Damn this traffic jam How I hate to be late It hurts my motor to go so slow. Time I get home, my supper’ll be cold.” Almost 50 years after graduation, Andy relives his performances with the joy that today’s students live theirs. They are the most formative performances in North Toronto musicians’ life. Andy agrees, saying, “it was nice to be given enough [room] to fail because failure is part of moving forward.” Who gives us that room? Teachers. Teachers of the 1980s, the 2000s, and the 2020s, who have survived five different school schedules in the past two years. Charlotte Cornfield’s memory of an NT mentor transcends the generational gap, “[after submitting a song for a Literature assignment] Mr. Zohar took me aside and said the song was good but too literal. What’s behind that? He asked, where’s the poetry? I honestly took

that to heart in my writing process going forward.” Small moments, forgettable in the present, monumental for the future. They are the extraordinary conversations students have with their teachers that stay engraved in their minds and, hopefully, hearts. These conversations fuel the creative success of Charlotte and Andy, Justin, and other future alumni. Music at North Toronto goes beyond its department. It is a core part of the student experience. Do you remember the glee of getting back the sacred 10 minutes of morning music? Or the immortal clarinet performance of Mr. Kinoshita and Ms. Monteith? Every generation of students will have their unique moments to treasure. Andy Maize reminds us that “music takes us right back to a specific moment in time. [We remember] who we were with, what we were doing, how we were feeling, how things smelled.” And just like that, you’re back in the room charged with expectation. It has been two years since the last performance. You are in the audience, or waiting for a curtain call, or behind the scenes. The first note has not yet broken the silence, but you can already hear it. So everybody, brass, woodwinds, percussion, strings, voice, stage crew, music production students, and listeners, get ready and enjoy the music. Make some history.

Features | March 31, 2022 | Graffiti

SOCIAL MEDIA

r/identity

How social media impacts our perception of ourselves. Ava Reitmaier-Stone Section Editor

oming into my first year at NT, I deleted Instagram. Not because I was trying not to be like “other girls,” or because I wanted to brag about not using it, but because the anxiety that I experienced when interacting with the platform was crippling. The amount of pressure I placed on how I would be perceived based on one photo of myself, combined with the exhausting mental arithmetic necessary to calculate whether my likes to liked or followers to following ratio was appropriate, resulted in extreme emotional drainage. So I deleted it, and ever since I have wondered what makes social media incite so much anxiety? Because it’s not just me; everyone that I know with social media struggles with it to some degree. It has an undeniable effect on our perception of ourselves, and we are the first generation to experience it to this magnitude. Social media has evolved past a place to post a knitting tutorial or a skit that you created with your friends. It is now a space to exist inside of, one that demands all of you: from displaying your morning avocado toast on Instagram to later tweeting about how breakfast disagreed with you. Not to be too cliche, but what is this doing to our souls? I recently found an answer (note: “an,” not “the”), in a rather dusty and convoluted cocktail of French psychophilosophy. If you don’t mind, allow yourself to ponder the following

questions: how do you know what your name is? How do you know if you’re funny? How do you know if you’re good looking? You know these things because of other people’s reactions to you. You know what your name is because people address you; you know you’re funny if people laugh at your jokes. Everything we know about ourselves we gain from sources outside of us, relaying information to ourselves about ourselves. This is the basis of existentialism, a philosophical staple that centers around the experience of thinking, feeling, and perceiving. In the 1960’s, a fretful Frenchman proposed a theory that was founded in this idea of external self actualization. His name was Jaques Lacan, and his theory was termed “The Gaze.” Essentially, The Gaze is the idea that we are born ‘hollow’ and that our identity is shaped around us by others’ perception of who we are. But it gets a little more complicated than that. Because it’s not necessarily how people see us that shapes who we think we are, but how we see them seeing us. That’s what The Gaze is: seeing people see you. Lacan describes it as the anxious feeling that one is being watched. More specifically, it is when a person feels a loss of autonomy upon becoming aware that they are a visible object and can not completely control how they are perceived. A fellow Frenchman, Jean Baudillard, proposed a cultural theory in the mid 70s on the relationship between reality and symbols. The word he used to contemplate the specific evolution of symbols that thwart our reality was ‘simulacrum’. Simulacrum is a fancy word

for a simulation of something, a bad simulation. It’s the final stage of imitation, when the imitation itself becomes completely devoid and unattached from the original thing that it is imitating. For example, the letter S was originally a pictorial representation of a snake that also imitated the sound that a snake makes. But after a certain point, the letter S stopped being an imitation of a snake and just started to be an S. When you look at an S, you don’t think snake, you think S. That is because S is now an isolated and independent thing, a simulacrum. Furthermore, the S could have never existed if not for the snake, it is indicative of a snake’s existence. However, S is no longer dependent on the snake to give it meaning. Snakes could go extinct and S would live on, unthwarted. This is the essence of simulacra: symbols of real things becoming detached — unreliant, and actualizing outside of reality. The concept of simulacrum carries itself further into our culture on the back of the concept of celebrity. Because what is a celebrity if not an imitation of a real person that is so far divorced from that real personhood that it becomes an entirely different thing altogether? The person Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. is not the same as the celebrity “Snoop Dogg”. One is real and one is a simulacrum. Who is Snoop Dogg to himself? How does the way that he is perceived by the world as a 2 dimensional personification of “Still D.R.E” affect how he perceives himself? For the longest time, this nightmarish depersonalization of self was something that only the elites were subjected to. Most people would agree that the

pros of being “Snoop Dogg” outweigh the cons, despite how “quotated” his identity becomes. But what happens when this symptom of a mass scaled performance of identity is democratized? Because that’s what social media is, a democratization of performance. What social media offers is an opportunity to filter your soul through a series of carefully curated instagram posts and tiktoks and tweets. It is an imitation of you, such a fundamentally reductive imitation that it can only be a mere symbol of your existence: simulacrum. This simulacrum is then subjected to a pure manifestation of The Gaze. The likes, comments, retweets and interactions from faceless online users combined with your social media self, compile into a persistent and unflinching blob of “watching.” Social media is a mechanism to watch yourself be watched on the most macro and depersonalized scale. In hindsight, these are the factors that contributed to my breakup with breakup with all social media. I worry that these anxious feelings exist in many of my peers to a similarly debilitating degree. Social media’s carnivorous questioning of who we are, its constant demand of us to perform authenticity and present our beings in streamlined and digestible efficiencies is something that has never been asked of any generation before. It’s never been asked of anyone before, not even pre-internet/ net-benefiting celebrities. Social media is more than a collection of hashtags and memes; it’s a malicious funhouse mirror pointed right at your soul.

IDENTITY

The labels on our clothes

“We must stop labeling intimate objects with genders. The clothing I wear and the clothing anyone else wears truly does not affect you.” Parker Foubert Contributor

lothing style is a key aspect to one’s overall appearance. Everyone has style, whether it’s good or bad. Along with the social concept of “style” comes the social implication of what one’s style should be, what clothing one should wear, and where to wear it. Taking a look at how gender stereotypes and clothing style intertwine, we often see gender stereotypes playing a huge role in clothing style due to systemic issues within society. We as a society have labeled inanimate objects with a gender on

the basis of their style, fit, colour, and design. Once one breaks these gender labels in clothing style, it is typically met with backlash through bullying, violence, or hate crimes. To take a closer look at how gender labels affect one’s style, I conducted an online questionnaire and had specific students from different demographics and with different styles at North Toronto C.I. take part. Representation of gender, sexuality, and style were all considerably noted in order to have a better understanding on the basis of gender labels impacting one’s style. The first perspective noted came from a straight female with a feminine style. Stephanie, a grade

twelve student at NT points out the issues of labeling. She states, “labeling something tends to inflict the idea that it cannot be changed. While clothing is unisex, there should be no labels, as labels constrict what people want to wear.” There is no reason for there to be “boys’’ clothes and “girls’’ clothes. It’s just fabric that people wear and often express themselves with; expression is not a gender. The fact of the matter is, gender labels are used to box people into certain categories in order for others to better understand their gender. Certain demographics are just not comfortable with the fluidity of gender; they prefer to slap a gender label on the basis of what reproductive organs one has.

Stacey, a grade twelve student at NT, was asked, “Why do you think there are gender labels on clothing?” She states “People are obsessed with the idea of needing to fit certain standards. Honestly I feel like it has to do with people being scared of change and seeing others in what’s not considered “normal” because they are scared of individuality.” Our society as a whole tries to shift away from individuality, wanting us all to be the same and fit in, as that’s the “normal” way. This is why we often see backlash when it comes to those that don’t want to label their sexuality or gender and instead want to be fluid without being put into a box. continued on the next page...

14 We must also look at how cishetereonormative society is scared of women and femininity. Men/boys are conditioned to believe they cannot be feminine due to the fact femininity is not normalized in men. Women/girls cannot be masculine because a woman or girl “deviating” from their assigned femininity has “negative” connotations to it as well. Even if a girl is feminine, she is “weak” or “soft”. The only person who comes out on top is hypermasculine men that support and uphold toxic masculinity. Toxic masculinity enforces gender stereotypes of what a man should be. They must be strong, show no emotion. They must like sports, cars, video games, porn, etc. Often those affected by toxic masculinity are those in the LGBTQIA+ community or straight men that show slightly more “feminine” traits, which leads to dressing a certain way in coherence to toxic masculinity. The last perspective noted came from Noah, a grade twelve cisgender straight male at NT. He discusses his own experience as a young child dealing with gender stereotypes. “Gender labels have caused me to act and behave in a certain way. When growing up, if something was considered “girly”, even if I found interest in it, I would not do that because of the label on it. I was afraid of being different from the other guys, and at a young age, these gender labels have a much stronger grasp on the children because they are not educated enough to dispute it. I only learned later on, around age 12 (middle school I guess) that using gender labels to categorize anything into what one gender should and shouldn’t do, is absurd.” Once we reinforce stereotypical gender roles like these, we are shifting away from self-expression. Chil-

Graffiti | March 31, 2022 | Features

Photo by Danielle Xin dren are not born with the mindset of how a man or a woman should act, it is taught. Although our society enjoys labeling everything, we are seeing a huge shift for the better in terms of labeling, especially the labeling of clothing. According to NBC News, fashion brands have begun to push towards producing more gender-fluid collections to meet ever-changing consumer demands. In 2019, 56% of Gen Z consumers shopped “outside their assigned gendered area,” according to Rob Smith, founder of the “gender free fashion” brand Phluid Project (Herh, 2021). I wanted to write this article to speak up against these gender labels being projected onto clothing. I have been the victim of bullying

& harassment based on the clothing I wear. Most recently, a friend of mine told me a group of people had been talking about my clothing and made some homophobic comments about it. What had shocked me most was that these comments came from a group I have never spoken to. In my four years at this school, I have never once had an actual conversation with any of them. To add, I barely even know their names. It was interesting to know that what I was wearing affected them so much that they felt the need to include such homophobic remarks about it into their conversations. I fully understand that no matter what I do, people will always have something to say about me; whether it’s about how I act, how I dress, or who I love, people

have opinions. But I will speak up against it. I will not sit down and comply with how society wants a “man” to act or dress. At the end of the day, this is my life and I can do what I please. It is simply a piece of clothing. My message for you to take away from this article is that it’s okay to wear what makes you comfortable, regardless of your gender. We must stop labeling intimate objects with genders. The clothing I wear and the clothing anyone else wears truly does not affect you. If you have an issue, keep it to yourself. When you come after someone who is confident with themselves and their sexuality, it just shows how insecure you are. We all must fight for a more equal and accepting future.

INVESTIGATION

A coach’s psychological impact on teenage athletes Coaches have a long lasting effect on the athletes’ mental wellbeing, an aspect of sports that is certainly not talked about enough.

Miah Jensen Contributor

he Olympics this year has once again brought to our attention the importance of coaches and their impact on athletes. Coaches are often unaware of the role they play in a teenage athlete’s life, as what they say and do can completely alter the way a teenager perceives themselves in and out of their sport. Coaches have a long lasting effect on an athletes’ mental wellbeing, an aspect of sports that is certainly not talked about enough.

15 year-old Olympic figure skater, Kamila Valieva, is one example of the abuse athletes face everyday from their coaching staff. In particular, those at a high performance level. On February 6, Valieva competed and won gold in the figure skating team event; however, a day later a drug test done on December 25 came back positive. Three substances were found that are used to treat the heart and known to increase endurance. After much controversy, Valieva was permitted to continue competing in the 2022 Winter Olympics. This story has become popular around the world, with many people blaming her notoriously abusive coach,

Eteri Tutberidze, for the positive test result. Tutberidze has previously trained many top skaters who have left the sport due to eating disorders. It was reported by several of her students that Tutberidze abused her athletes in ways such as keeping them on diets of powdered nutrients, telling skaters to lose weight, and preventing them from drinking water any time before or during skating. Seeing this history of abuse, it becomes clear that the psychological effect Tutberidze had on her skaters led them to develop eating disorders and most likely had other long lasting effects on her athletes’ self-esteem. However, the detrimental

effects coaches have on young athletes don’t just come at the Olympic level; harmful coaching behaviors impact a vast majority of teenagers who participate in sports. As an athlete who began playing soccer at the age of four, I’ve had my share of amazing and terrible coaches. I played at a high performance level of soccer for several years, before taking a step down and moving to a less extreme level. One of the main reasons for this was my coach. Originally, I was training around 6-7 times a week with many coaches that I could barely tolerate. continued on next page...

Features | March 31, 2022 | Graffiti A certain coach that my team had for a short period of time stuck with me the most. During a training session, this coach noticed that one of the girls missed the ball. He then made a 15 year-old girl stand in the net with her hands behind her back while her teammates, including myself, shot the ball directly at her. He told the girl that if she blocked the ball with her hands or dodged it, then she would have to stay in that dreadful situation longer. As for everyone else, we were told that if we purposefully avoided kicking the ball at her, or kicked it too softly then we “would be next.” The girl ended up getting hit in the head and suffered a mild concussion. It’s hard to believe that a coach who worked hard to get to this level would even consider doing something that could jeopardize his career. I spoke to the girl a few months later and she reported that she was always stressed about having a new coach. This event in particular caused her to feel more anxious during soccer and led to her enjoying the sport much less. If it weren’t for the last coach I had, I likely would still be playing at this competitive level, possibly even pursuing soccer as a career. On top of physical abuse, coaches often seem unaware of how they can lower an athlete’s self esteem. They often express negative sentiments, saying “you’re lazy and too slow”; “if you keep playing like this, you’re not playing in the next

game”; “why can’t you be more like …”; and “if you continue like this, you’re never gonna make it.” All these meaningless sayings are not so meaningless to teenagers. It sticks with them, causing them to doubt themselves, rather than improving their abilities. It’s not just me who has had bad experiences with professionally licensed coaches. Abby Harlow, a grade 11 NT student, has played hockey for 12 years and currently plays at the AA level. She “think[s] that coaches really have an impact on how players view themselves. [She] had really great coaches that pushed [her] to be the best, but [she] also had a really poor experience with a coach.” She found that her confidence in games was at the lowest when her coach didn’t communicate and left her second guessing her skills. She “was told by a coach to stop bullying other people on the team with no context whatsoever.” Harlow continued, saying that she “think[s] that to be a good coach you need to realize that the game is for the players, and that at the end of the day, it’s about having fun!” Keira Ayoub, another grade 11 student at NT, has been swimming for nearly her whole life and has had a long-lasting, poor experience with a swimming coach. At around five or six years old, when attempting to swim, her first swim coach would throw sponges at her and the other children if they tried

to grab the wall. Ayoub reported that “although this method of teaching did force [her] to learn not to grab the wall, it was a traumatic experience that [she remembers] over ten years later. Brooke Williams, a grade 11 student at NT, and a competitive dancer, has been dancing since she was three years old. She stated that “coaches have a large impact on how athletes view themselves. A coach’s opinion shapes how the athlete feels about their abilities because they are typically someone an athlete looks up to. A positive, encouraging coach can lead to a more confident athlete and person overall. Having a coach who doesn’t believe in you makes it difficult to believe in yourself.” Williams also mentioned that her sister, who is also a dancer, has had a coach “make a comment on her appearance, which really stuck with her.” In her opinion she believes the most important quality a coach should have is that they are supportive of their athletes. The most supportive coaches are the ones who allow athletes to feel comfortable making mistakes, and then can help them improve. Personally, having supportive coaches makes me more motivated to practice. Having encouraging coaches also makes the sport more enjoyable, leading to happier athletes who want to keep training. Supportive coaches are able to form more trustworthy and healthy rela-

tionships with their athletes. Another student at NT has been playing tennis since they were 4. They reported that the coach used the “R” slur towards them during a match and called them stupid. Another coach they had at 12 years old would constantly tell them to “do more fitness and that [they] were slow on the court.” They continued, saying that before the pandemic, a loss would make them feel like a horrible player. This lowered their self-esteem “in everything in life.” “[They] wouldn’t eat or do homework,” because of the way the coach made them feel. With more athletes coming forward with stories of coaching abuse, hopefully, coaches will become more aware of the significant role they play in an athletes’ life. The teenage brain is still developing, so it is a crucial time to be seeking positive reinforcement, instead of constant, negative feedback and instruction in order to boost self-esteem. It is important that athletes experiencing this harmful behavior from their coaches, speak to someone and seek help in order to prevent the behavior from continuing. The long-lasting effects that coaches have on the mental wellbeing of young athletes is clearly a prominent issue that must be spoken about.

WELL-BEING

Joie de vivre What looks good on paper, or on a screen in our case, isn’t necessarily what will make us happy. Iva-Mari Miskulin Section Editor

t is easy to lose ourselves to outside opinions. The devices under our noses pressure us to stay in the loop with ‘what’s in’ and satisfy others instead of ourselves. They make us think less about how we feel and more about how something looks. However, disappointment is the gap between expectation and reality, and the expectations of what will look good on paper, or on a screen in our case, isn’t necessarily what will make us happy. Many of us know and love to create fake scenarios inside our head. Whatever they depict, they are a simulation of what can happen in real life; different versions of the same situation. This ability makes humans unique; no other animal, not even our ancestors, are quite as good at this as modern humans are. Although we may believe this ability to be a useful skill, we often exaggerate the outcomes leading to impact bias. Impact bias is when the simulations of different outcomes appear to be more different from one another than

they actually are. Because of this, many may feel as if a single test mark can ruin their whole career, when in reality it will have little to no impact at all. As a defence to this potentially harmful ability, humans can also synthesise their own happiness. Dan Gilbert, a Harvard psychologist, says that humans have a ‘psychological immune system’ which can change our views on the world to make us feel better about the situation we are currently in. These systems are mostly unconscious cognitive processes, and in essence they lead us to believe that humans tend to be optimists. We like to turn a seemingly bleak situation into a learning experience or something we can use to positively impact our life. On the other hand, we also tend to believe that synthetic happiness, or making the best of what we got, is simply inferior to ‘natural’ happiness, commonly referred to as getting what we want. We, as a society, tend to believe that a backup plan is an escape, an equivalent to giving up or ‘settling’. So, ‘natural’ happiness is what most of us chase, and it goes hand in hand with freedom. We can supposedly ‘get what we want’ only

when we have complete freedom, but this freedom comes with a set of challenges. As Jean-Paul Sartre would say, “man is condemned to be free.” Having the ability to choose from so many different paths can oftentimes lead us into a spiral of self doubt, wondering if we made the right choice and thinking about what would happen if we could change the past, and it is precisely this predicament which is the enemy of synthetic happiness. A limited selection forces us to accept the things we cannot change, and allows us to grow a fondness for the situation we find ourselves in. As Dr. Gilbert says, “a reversible condition (a choice we can choose to change afterwards) is not conducive to the synthesis of happiness,” and this feature is important to realise if we are to set ourselves up for success. Sometimes, our fears and ambitions are overblown, however Dr. Gilbert informs us that although we should have preferences that lead us to one future over another, allowing those preferences to drive us too hard and too fast because we have overrated the difference between these two futures, will put us at risk. What’s more is that natural happiness is extremely difficult to

grasp in our modern society. We are free, but we are free within a situation. External factors such as living in a society pressures one to follow certain rules and occasionally not think purely out of self-interest, which may mean sacrificing their own happiness. So, in essence we must shift our mindset to accept that “you can’t always get what you want,” because from the beginning the odds were against you. Synthetic happiness is just as good as its counterpart. Our society is also one which obsessively plans for the future. We give future events so much meaning that we forget to be grateful for the present moment. David Steindl-Rast, a monk, encourages us to live gratefully, and insists that stopping to admire our life once in a while is what makes us happy. A lot of the stress on ‘what is to come’ stems from people believing that “opportunity knocks only once” and that we as individuals are linear and finite, however Mr. Steindl-Rast calls on us to realise that each moment is an opportunity, and that there are countless opportunities in a day, let alone a year. continued on the next page...

16 He says that “we can help ourselves to this opportunity or we can miss it.” One cannot be grateful for everything, but one can be grateful for the opportunity to choose how they respond to each situation and learn from it, in other words, synthesise happiness. There is no secret to happiness; instead there are tools to help individuals chase it. Happiness is not something that can be compared, each person experiences it differently, and everyone’s path is tread through fresh snow. What’s more, happiness is not the final goal, as life will continue to move forward even after you may have reached your so-called ‘destination’. Happiness is not finite, nor is it constant. One must learn how to navigate life when everything seems to be against us. We are human, and we will feel a wide range of emotions throughout our life, and this range will help us enjoy the moments of bliss sprinkled throughout our fluctuating lives. We must remember that it is ok not

Graffiti | March 31, 2022 | Features

to be happy, and it is ok to struggle with finding happiness. You are already on the right path as soon as you are thinking about how to be happy, because this means you are setting a system to reach your goal, a goal which will not be infinite, but one that will make all the pain seem trivial. Be grateful for the moments we often take for granted, such as lunch with your friends, a delicious boba, a warm sunny day, a Kahoot in class, etc. We as students are all in the same boat, and although everyone may appear to be happy, we must help each other and acknowledge that we are setting an unrealistic goal for ourselves; we all have our rough patches. So, we must accept that sometimes life will suck, and we cannot change that, but we must also realise that we can make the most of our situation, and synthesise happiness from our current situation. And remember, as cliche as it may sound, things will get better. Let’s enjoy the last few months of the school year together.

Illustration by Esther Won

MENTAL HEALTH

Toxic perfectionism and mental health: prioritize yourself Victoria Man Section Editor Brooke Williams Contributor

lubs, sports, stellar grades, a social life, and everything else is expected of high school students nowadays.There are many different external and internal pressures that lead high school students to be extremely stressed. From there, students strive to be more productive and more perfect in order to achieve the things they want. According to Medical News Today, perfectionism is “a combination of excessively high personal standards and overly critical self-evaluations.” In this article, toxic perfectionism and toxic standards will be used interchangeably due to their strong relation to each other. These high standards held by many high school students correlate closely with deteriorated mental health. Anxiety and depression are just some examples of what can result from high and harmful standards of high school students. Of course, mental health issues can also lead to these destructive standards. It is a vicious cycle that lots of students experience and there are many reasons as to why toxic perfectionism is so prevalent in the modern day for high school students. In this article, high school students will be referring to the large number of students who have overachieving

Photo by Victoria Man traits and also decreasing mental health. There are many different factors that contribute to high school students suffering from toxic perfectionism, many of which relate to a worsening of mental health amongst high school students. Paired with the competitive nature of school, the yearning for victory or being best can induce toxic perfectionism. The pressures might be internal, meaning they are motivated by personal obligation, or external ones driven by a fear of punishment or an obsession with achieving a goal. While both are common, there is an outstanding external factor that has been

slowly internalized: societal pressure. Nowadays, parents or members of older generations often downplay the stresses of high school by repeating phrases such as, “you guys have it so easy”. While today’s younger generation may have access to the internet and other technologies, the expectations from students are higher today than they were in the past. One of the main factors contributing to a more competitive high school environment is that there is an increasing pressure to go to university. Today, more students are attending university than ever. In

1980, 12.1 million American students attended college, compared to a staggering 20.13 million in 2021. Not only are there more applicants, but many schools are becoming increasingly selective. Take an Ivy League university like Harvard for example — its acceptance rate has dropped from 11.8% to 4.5% in the past thirty years. This isn’t specific to top schools as the overall university acceptance rates are declining as well. Along with the rise in the number of applicants, students are now applying to far more schools than they used to. continued on the next page...

Features | March 31, 2022 | Graffiti This increased competition when seeking post-secondary education has created high standards for applicants. Simply having good grades doesn’t cut it now. Classroom activities in high school have largely transitioned focus from more hands-on learning activities to timed testing practices. For example, this year and depending on the week, one NT student can find themself having to do five or more evaluations. Education has become more about what’s coming next, allowing high school to become a place where students find themselves in constant competition with their peers. Furthermore, social media is well-connected to society as it is the gateway to different views and problems. The stigmatization of apprenticeship and community college in society is a major drive for toxic perfectionism. It has reached a point where most students are pressured to strive for university even if it is not the correct path for them. Social media has been promoting this societal viewpoint through videos with algorithms showing students who gain acceptance to top universities,

instilling fear of failure and being judged. Almost everyone has seen acceptance videos of Ivy Leagues, UC universities, and many others on Youtube or on TikTok. Eventually, the amount of effort being put into their university aspirations and the pressure of society to get into university lead to a decline in one’s mental well being. Social media trends are also at fault for generating toxic perfectionism. Using social media as an outlet for promoting productivity, such as the “that girl” trend, has caused many students to become even more stressed than they already are. The “that girl” trend is a facade that shows girls who are constantly and effortlessly eating healthy, working out, practicing self care, all while being productive and “winning” at life. When feeling like certain things are out of your control, seeing someone else participate in a trend that shows how put-together they are is only going to make one want to become even more productive. However, too much can make productivity toxic. As mentioned earlier, there is a never-ending cycle of achieving perfection in home, social, and

school life while sacrificing mental and physical health. Moreover, due to the widespread and toxic romanticization of perfectionism and productivity on social media, students who are already suffering from extremely high standards will fall prey to the illusion that everyone else in the world has their life together and that they must also attain this. Students will chase these media trends to negatively cope with their own struggles, hoping to feel at peace with their perfectionism. Reaching out for help is difficult for many high school students, even once they become aware of their own toxic standards and how they are stuck in a vicious loop. In this article, various pressures that high school students face and their contribution to perfectionism have been mentioned, but a question that remains unanswered is how can we manage them? While it is nearly impossible to ignore these expectations, certain strategies can be used to lessen the effects on mental health. This will look different for everyone. A good first step to break out of this cycle is taking a step back and acknowl-

edging your own personal limits. It can be easy to get caught up in the achievements of those around you, but constantly pushing yourself can lead to burnout. Sometimes, taking a break can be more beneficial for productivity, as it allows you to re-set and refresh. Although easier said than done, it is important to prioritize your mental health over your grades. Another helpful tool to combat perfectionism is by setting realistic goals and timelines for yourself as perfectionism is closely linked to procrastination. By setting goals for yourself, you can break large tasks into something more manageable. Finally, it is always important to set aside time for yourself and activities you enjoy. This includes practicing self-care, playing sports, or seeing friends. Whatever it may be, it is crucial to take breaks and spend time doing what you find fun. Toxic perfectionism is an extremely easy cycle for students to get caught up in; that is why it is important for students to be aware of their mental health and to take actions to ensure that they will not fall victim to this destructive mindset.

GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCES

Grandma, you can’t say that Sophie Block Section Editor

riddled with banned conversation topics: no politics, no world affairs and no discussions on what constitutes human rights. Coming from an immigrant

I have found myself bearing the responsibility of educating family members, but it’s proven to be a challenge. Merely saying “you can’t say that” is rarely sufficient,

Baran Forootan Contributor

he relationships between grandchildren and grandparents are sacred; grandchildren are taught to respect their grandparents and learn from their life experience. Grandparents grew up in a world unrecognisable to their grandchildren, with no technology and completely different social ideals. For those with grandparents who grew up in different countries, these differences can be even more extreme. Moreover, we are consistently told that with age, people tend to move right on the political scale, and this, combined with the ever-progressive age of the 21st Century, has resulted in the differences between generations feeling immense. While these differences are to be expected, they can also become problematic. How does one react to a grandparent who may be racist, or homophobic? Or when a child feels that their true identity won’t be accepted by their grandparents’ antiquated values? This challenge is faced by many students today, and the way students address these challenges varies greatly. For some families, it has gotten to a point where Thanksgiving dinners feel like a battleground,

Illustration by Baran Forootan family, I [Baran] was surprised by the number of off-hand comments that fly beneath of everyone else’s radar except for mine. It’s disturbing that the same racist mindsets some people fall victim to are the same ones that they continue to perpetuate. It’s almost as if they believe if they follow the same doctrine as those in power they will manage to wriggle out of being minorities.

and it is often followed up with “why?” It sends one on a whirlwind exploration searching for a reason to make them understand these cultural norms that are so foreign to them. Often, for immigrant grandparents, speaking in another language seems to offer them a “get out of jail free card,” where if no one else can hear, or understand, it’s okay to say it. This, though, is

still problematic; as it’s the mindset of being offensive that’s the problem, rather than just expressing those views to the public. Many students from NT have expressed that when they try to discuss certain matters or explain to family members why their views are wrong, they are met with something along the lines of, “Oh they’re from a different time.” Now not only is this saying used as an age-old excuse for prejudice, but it also isn’t even a logical excuse for bigotry (if there is one at all). Grade 11 NT student, Keira Ayoub, phrased it well: “I find this excuse to be ridiculous as they have had numerous decades to acclimate to the readily changing social and political climate.” It is not as if they are time travellers who were accustomed to their life in the 60’s and managed to get lost in 2022, they may have been from a different time, however, they have also been present for all the years leading up to the present. As Keira continued, “[these] behaviours are evidence of the sociological phenomenon of the older generation’s inability to adapt.” As polarisation remains a poignant issue in today’s society, the tension between grandparents and their grandchildren rises accordingly. Maintaining respect for your elders, while also expressing your own views and being able to express yourself is difficult to achieve. Although saying, “Grandma, you can’t say that,” is difficult, it’s our responsibility to do so.

Graffiti | March 31, 2022 | Opinion

opinion CULTURE

The epic battle of irony vs sincerity A cultural and personal tug of war between what we say and do, and what we feel and mean. Jack Wolkove Contributor

rony is what happens to sincerity when it has tired itself; admiration turns to mockery, coolness to cringe, and care to apathy. Sarcasm, the mother tongue of the frustrated, is perhaps the most visible form irony manifests itself in. When a topic or sentiment that you feel is ridiculous is presented to you as serious, the first instinct may be to respond with sarcasm, to say the opposite of what you mean. I believe this comes from shock and disbelief that someone would genuinely do or say something you believe to be unserious or cruel. This shock may disable us from communicating unfiltered thoughts, so we use sarcasm to say all the words we can’t, in the ones we can. When irony is used because sincerity is unavailable, it becomes more than a mode of communication; it becomes a survival skill. This is where awareness comes in, towards yourself or others, to remove sincerity in order to obtain social respect. The ability to see

the flaws in yourself as more than something to hide is a mesmerizing quality, but is often unused for self-improvement and rather in favour of self-deprecation (being self critical, often jokingly). Instead of saying, “I sounded so dumb,” after stumbling over your words, you might say, “I’m quite the wordsmith, I know,” to convey that you are aware of your mistakes, and thereby avoid being “cringed” at — have others become embarrassed as a result of your awkward action. When we perform irony, we are repurposing someone else’s sincerity, even our own, to create a new message. When we are self-deprecating, we are signalling that we are self-aware, that others don’t need to cringe. In order to preserve a constant state of being self-aware, you must never act unironically, which is difficult if you breathe air and are alive. While this avoidance of sincerity comes from a fear of being cringed at by others, it also comes from within. As we grow older, we may look at our past selves and think of all the things we did at the time that seem stupid or embarrassing now. With modern technology, everyone has photos and vid-

eos of themselves from years ago, allowing a constant low-light reel of every stupid thing we’ve ever done to be accessed at any point. To avoid having to cringe at our old and sincere selves, we mock ourselves now, and if we never do anything seriously, we can never truly be made fun of. There’s even an urge to mock our own mockery, a mockception, if you will, to reach new levels of self-awareness. This is not only evident in everyday life, but also in the media with movies’ conveyed messages becoming satirized decades after. The Breakfast Club, for example, is a classic high school movie about a bunch of kids from different cliques coming together by accident and realizing that they have more in common than they think (it should be noted that I’ve never seen The Breakfast Club). The message of the movie (again, to my knowledge) is that in the highly socially divided high schools of the 80’s, students could all come together and bond over our shared experiences of youth and personhood. This was followed by the media mocking the idea of high school being so divided by classes such as “outcasts” and “jocks,” (the basis of every teen movie genre on

Netflix), despite it being a reflection of how people felt at the time. This satire on teen-dramedy can end up being mocked as well for its false edginess. The key theme in all examples of things changing from sincere to ironic is time — the fermentation of what was genuine into what becomes ironic, and in time, the irony too becomes mocked for being serious in its mockery. The truth is that all things must start out sincerely, even irony itself, because what do we have to build on if nothing starts from a place of pure intention? What do we do with our awareness of the state of things? The answer: our best. Self-awareness is inherently positive as it can help us realize the harm in our actions as well as the harm in our government and social structures. But it all goes to waste if we get stuck in the constant cycle of sincerity, irony, post-irony, post-post-irony,meta-sincere-pseudo-ironic-post-sardonic-pre-historic reflection. Irony and sincerity are allowed to exist in the same rooms at the same time, and they should.

ENTERTAINMENT

Is it ‘Good’ Television?

A look into reality TV, its consumers, and its detractors. Alisa Adamyan Junior Advisors Logan Proulx Junior Advisors

e as a society have acclimatized to the rapidly increasing prevalence of mass-media consumption, which in turn has caused our standards surrounding the media we consume to rise . As production companies continue to produce and distribute an exponentially growing amount of content, we are forced to make crucial decisions pertaining to what we watch, as we only have a finite amount of free time that can be expended on viewing media. This has prompted the creation of criteria that denotes the fundamental determinants of objectively ‘good’ television. In order to abide by this criteria, the piece of media in question must be entertaining, provide an insightful commentary

or message, and keep the audience engaged. As we continue to discern whether or not different mediums of television act in accordance with this criteria, we come across the anomaly referred to as reality television: television programs that continuously follow real people and how they go about interacting with the situations and people around them. The idea of whether or not this form of television conforms to the standards of ‘good’ TV continues to be a controversial subject of debate, but only when this classification of television is comprehensively evaluated can a conclusion be formed. Reality Television —a new kind of art form that has revolutionized since its first debut on National TV Programs in 1948 by producer-host Allen Funt’s Candid Camera, in which unsuspecting people were met with amusing, odd circumstances and shot with hidden cameras. From shows like An American Family in 1973, depicting a middle-class California

household, to arriving back in 1992 with the debut of the MTV series The Real World, which updated the idea by adding a splash of deception. Each season, a group of young adults were put together in a house, and viewers learned about them as they got to know about one another. The releases of seemingly “non-artificial” productions aiming to represent how ordinary people act in everyday life, carried by an addition of casual dramatic portrayal, kickstarted the demand for reality television in mainstream media. It wasn’t until the early 2000s, though, that reality media’s grand claim began to look prescient. That year, two high-profile, high-concept summer series pushed the format into prime time in the United States: Big Brother, a Dutch import, was built around surveillance-style footage of competitors locked in a house, while Survivor, a Swedish import, isolated its stars by sending them somewhere warm and distant, where they competed in fictitious tribal

competitions. Both of these series were primarily game shows, but they also served as early anthropological experiments, persuading both viewers and executives that television could provide action along with dramatic appeal without hiring actors. Action-style reality based game shows began the launch of a wide variety of genres for this desirable and adaptable TV concept. We’ve been in this era for nearly a century now from it’s beginning in 1948, and if Funt were alive today, he may be surprised at the form’s versatility, which has been welcoming to dazzling competitions like American Idol, and to documentary-shot shows like Real Housewives, which follows the lives of a group of wealthy, middle-aged women. Of course, in modern-day fashion, reality TV shows like Love Island, Too Hot to Handle, or Selling Sunset, are all we see from this type of media. continued on the next page...

Opinion | March 31, 2022 | Graffiti It is safe to say quality searching viewers who brag about watching every episode of Friday Night Lights will also brag about never seeing the disappointment of Netflix’s most-loved-to -hate-on, the Hype House. Reality television is the epitome of television; therefore, it’s development has classified it as at the bottom of the barrel for “trash TV.” It is important to note that it earns its mantra of “trash television” due to an array of factors that hinder the genre’s general quality. These factors range from derivative foundations and themes making themselves abundantly clear in programs such as Love Island, Love is Blind, The Bachelor, and The Bachelorette, to the unhealthy and competition surrounding programs such as Dance Moms and America’s Next Top Model. These shows are so reliant on superlatives that it becomes saddening to watch as the contestants are exploited and pitted against one another in an attempt to be perceived as ‘the best.’ The pressure induced by the competition of these shows surrounds subjective appearance based worth; a medium of evaluation of long lasting negative impacts. Perhaps one of the most pressing factors concerning reality television is its tokenism and stereotyping of under-represented minorities.

Reality television programs generally retain a disassociation with racial and sexual diversity. Harboring predominantly white, heteronormative casts, reality televison tends to be devoid of multi-perspectivism, a flaw that if left unattended to, causes mass amounts of backlash amongst viewers. In order to combat this backlash, casting directors on reality television often resort to the utilization of tokenism: the practice of implementing diversity as a symbolic effort rather than a moral one. Dance Moms, a reality TV program that follows the training of young dancers under the tutelage of Abby Lee Miller, exemplifies this concept in it’s titular black character, Nia Sioux. Nia epitomizes racial tokenism through her blatantly unfair treatment as the lone black individual, contextualized against the backdrop of a predominantly white dance studio. She is consistently criticized for her dancing and microaggressed for her race, yet was kept on the show in an attempt to display to the viewers that multiracialism exists at Miller’s studio. The harm in tokenism is that it implies that minority groups are nothing more than boxes to be checked to reach a quota that would spare the show from public scrutiny, an implication that undermines the representation of the underrepresented.

Getting caught up in the scandal and shock factor of it all, we often forget the purpose and moral principles that reality television must hold to carry out it’s genre. Reality television is defined as a medium of television that places a sole focus on real people and how they naturally interact with the world around them, rather than actors with pre-prepared lines. Although this concept rejects the idea of traditionally hiring actors to carry out scenes of a show, it regularly fails to appear genuine and rather is portrayed in a highly proformative fashion to continue as typical scripted media. Critics argue that the modernized depiction of the reality genre does not adequately represent actuality in both implicit, referring to participants being placed in fake scenarios, and deceitful ways; misleading editing, participants being coached on behavior, storylines generated ahead of time, and scenes being staged. True, reality television shows are entertaining and, for the most part, keep viewers’ attention. In retrospect, these reality shows appear to be little more than a gimmick utilized by television networks to acquire Television Rating Points (TRPs) and establish a make-believe world that is unrealistic in normal life. For this reason, copious amounts of negative

feedback have rained hellfire on production companies that raises the question of if the media we are being fed remains truthful to its moral integrity and whether or not it should proceed being advertised as “Reality Television.” Upon considering the factors that define reality TV, we are left to gauge whether or not this medium of entertainment adheres to the criteria that characterizes objectively good television. While the genre is undoubtedly principally ambivalent, it retains its popularity due to its unequivocal entertainment. Left-leaning observers of popular culture are bound by a rule: they must never denounce the populace of reality television. The message portrayed by reality television, while negative and repetitive at times, provides a thoughtful and insightful delve into the human psyche both on the screen in the form of human interaction and response, as well as off the screen by means of why we as the audience are so compelled to tune into glorified realism. This voyeuristic approach we take when watching the lives of others consistently keeps us engaged, fulfilling the predefined standards of what we would consider ‘good’ television.

MENTAL HEALTH

Is it really okay not to be okay? A look at the way we answer the big question: how are you?

Elizabeth Rosen Contributor

re you okay? Well, what are you supposed to say? Mental health is an extremely complex topic, and I can only say so much. Despite this, I do think it makes a huge difference to talk about it, rather than tuck away the feelings that eat away at you from the inside. There are huge differences between diagnosed mental health problems and emotions that have been more or less normalized , or aren’t felt to an extreme level. I will be predominantly discussing the latter, as I have no informed insight on more serious issues. Also, keep in mind, all of the points and suggestions below are simply my own thoughts and beliefs. So bear with me through what’ll probably end up being me restating the most blatantly obvious things somehow worth an entire page of a newspaper. Is it really okay not to be okay? This depends on how we define the subject. There is the “ok” that relates to social norms and people’s common judgment of each other, and the “ok” that refers to common or healthy emotions.

Let’s focus on the latter first. Is it okay to not feel healthy? This depends on how often one doesn’t feel healthy and to what extent. Of course, it’s normal to have valleys in between your peaks, and there is nothing wrong with you if you’re not in a perpetual state of euphoria. You should never invalidate your emotions because you think they’re ‘silly’, or ‘unreasonable’, or ‘common’ — whatever is bothering you deserves to be expressed in some way or another. No matter how seemingly trivial, the problem warrants a solution. On the other hand, is it “ok” to stray from the overused “I’m fine” and instead respond to people by opening up about how you really feel? It’s hard to do this for multiple reasons. Maybe you’re scared people will think differently of you if they find out what you’re going through, maybe you feel uncomfortable with others knowing intimate details about you, maybe you feel like you’ll be wasting their time, maybe people will find it off putting that out of the blue you’re talking about something more than your next class. Unsurprisingly, I believe there are more upsides to talking about your true emotions than hiding them. Firstly, verbalize your thoughts and feelings. If you are

someone who has an inner monologue (someone who can hear their voice in their head when they think), you probably verbalize your feelings naturally. Even so, it might feel even better to actually tell someone, especially since you’re already planning speeches in your head. If you don’t think in words, then verbalizing your feelings can do you even more good, because you can more accurately establish what your issue is. Furthermore, by opening up to someone, you might actually give off better impressions than you think. For example, you can establish a deeper and lasting relationship with the person you’re talking to. By discussing topics that mean a lot to you, you’re implying you value, trust and care about their opinion enough to share such thoughts with them. It’s like saying you feel comfortable around them, and as a byproduct, they’ll most likely end up feeling wanted and valued as well. This all goes without stating the obvious, that your problems may be resolved. By getting the help you need from people you trust, you could end up looking at things through clearer glasses. Now the only way to get there is by getting over the fear of being negatively judged for admitting you need help. All you have to remember is that no matter how

uncomfortable it may be to admit you have a problem, getting the help you need will never be a bad thing. There are, of course, some people who will not react to hearing about your issues quite in the way you want them to. Some people either feel uncomfortable talking about deep issues themselves, or simply aren’t interested in others. The trick is to not let these people stop you on your journey to being more open and honest. Even if they are your best friends, they may not be the right people to handle your situation, and that’s okay. There’ll be plenty of others who would love to hear you out. Still scared of talking to people you know? See a professional or call a help phone. They’ll always be there if you need them (provided there’s not a power outage). The fact is that most people go through things. Nobody’s life is squeaky clean, everybody feels, worries, and thinks. Does that mean that none of us are ever truly okay? I don’t want to pull the whole, “nobody’s really okay” card either, because nobody’s doomed to suffer. We simply have to work together to create the most uplifting, comforting, and accepting environment we can for ourselves and each other.

Graffiti | March 31, 2022 | Opinion

SCHOOL

How online school has changed students’ attitudes Natasha Pfeffer Contributor

ver the past 2 years, the pandemic caused schools all over the world to go partially or entirely online, which resulted in a change in students’ attitudes and behaviors. Due to the sudden and unexpected switch to online school students were forced to quickly adapt (or try to adapt) to a new way of learning. This has led many questions to arise about how online school affects the attitude, behavior, and learning styles of high school and university students. Virtual students have a hard time focusing on school with all the distractions at home. However, online school has allowed students to work at flexible hours and have more control over their learning pace. The first major change in students’ attitudes that arose throughout the pandemic is trouble focusing on school work. This issue affects most students in various levels of education. A survey conducted in early 2021 found that 76% of undergraduate students in

university reported a loss of motivation in terms of school-related work. This lack of focus can be attributed to difficulty adjusting to a virtual learning environment with distractions at home. Many students have a hard time with change and this change came in a very unexpected way, leaving many students without a plan on how to properly adjust to a new way of learning. Previously, students had two different places where different tasks were completed; school was for work and home was for personal activities. However, online school shifted that dynamic and blurred the lines between home and school, causing class time to be a time filled with distraction after distraction. Jasmine Noone, a Grade 11 North Toronto student says “I did find it hard to focus during online school because there were so many distractions such as getting a snack, watching TV, going on your phone, etc. and also, because it was online, it didn’t feel like real school so there wasn’t a lot of motivation to try and focus on the class.” After nearly two years of this, students find getting back to their former levels of focus difficult resulting in worsening at-

titudes towards school. The next factor that changed student attitudes and behaviors is the loss of the sense of a student community that was present prior to the pandemic. The average amount of extracurricular activities offered by secondary schools in Ontario decreased by half. To many students, this changed their view of school for the worse. Extra curricular activities are important for forming well rounded students as well as meaningful friendships, connections, and memories within the student body. Grade nine and ten students have been affected significantly since they never got to experience any clubs or sports in person. Additionally, school extracurriculars are important in making the school a community and a place that people look forward to going to. The loss of school spirit could directly be seen at North Toronto with the loss of certain clubs and sports, along with assemblies and Red and Grey Day. These events make the school feel like a community instead of just 1400 independent students. Leila Schrenk, a grade 11 North Toronto student, talks about her experience with this say-

ing that “the cutting of clubs and sports had a very negative impact on my high school experience. I got half a year of high school clubs and sports, and then for the next year and a half I was not able to make new friends or participate in anything school related.” The loss of these activities has clearly affected students heavily and decreased their liking towards school. Despite all the negative aspects of online school, some students found that they prefer online school to in-person school. As time went on, students became accustomed to online classes; some even began to prefer it over in-person classes. These students preferred the flexibility of online classes as it allowed for them to have more control over their schedule. They found that school conflicted less with commitments outside of school such as part-time jobs. Additionally, many students found that their school performance improved during remote learning. In the end, every student has had a different experience going through this time but it is clear that for better or worse, the pandemic has had a huge impact on this generation.

Photo by Abigail Shin

Arts & Lifestyle | March 31, 2022 | Graffiti

arts & lifestyle MUSIC

A Taylor Swift listening guide for beginners Your local Swiftie fanatics guide you through some of our favourite tracks, from catchy songs you may recognize to songs that cut deep…Ready For It? Kiana Sharifi Editor in Chief

Elise Farmar Section Editor

1. Delicate Delicate is one of Taylor’s most popular songs from the Reputation album. Behind its catchy tune, Swift explores themes of vulnerability in new relationships, when everything feels “delicate.” The entirety of the song marked her feelings in the beginning of her five year relationship with current boyfriend Joe Alwyn, as she wonders: will her reputation blemish the relationship? When will she be able to go all in? Notably, Swift asks “Is it cool that I said all that?/Is it too soon to do this yet?” In her later works about Alwyn, Swift states “It’s cool, that’s when I tell ‘em/No rules” in Cruel Summer and “It’s cool baby with me” in invisible string. Swift uses clever connections between many of her songs for listeners to witness the progression of this relationship. 3. Cornelia Street The title of this track references an apartment Swift rented on Cornelia St. in the West Village of New York City. She explains, “[This song] is about the things that took place and the memories that took place on that street… all the nostalgia.” Many fans speculate that this song is about the summer she met Joe, which coincided with her stay in the Cornelia Street apartment. Swift depicts a loving vulnerability in this song to illustrate the fragile beginnings of a relationship, fearing a seemingly inevitable end: “I hope I never lose you, hope it never ends/I’d never walk Cornelia Street again/That’s the kinda heartbreak time could never mend.” Swift said, “Sometimes we bond our memories to the places that they happen. I wrote it alone and it ended up being one of my favourite songs.” I (Elise) highly recommend listening to the “Live From Paris” version because the rawness of the vocals are incredible.

2. Wonderland As the title suggests, this deluxe track from her 1989 album is filled with references to Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland.” It follows a relationship that is full of passion and disillusionment. This shadows Alice’s adventure into Wonderland, with the song opening with “flashing lights and we took a wrong turn and we fell down a rabbit hole.” Emotion and attraction lead them down a mysterious relationship; however, doubt soon creeps in: “Didn’t they tell us don’t rush into things? Didn’t you flash your green eyes at me? Haven’t you heard what becomes of curious minds?” This lyric mirrors Alice stating “curiosity often leads to trouble” in the novel. Swift also references iconic characters like the Cheshire cat (“Didn’t you calm my fears with a Cheshire cat smile?”) and the Mad Hatter (“It’s all fun and games ‘till somebody loses their mind”). 4. Call it What You Want Many people associate the Reputation album era with controversy and revenge due to its imagery of snakes, dramatic black and white graphics, and initially shocking electric sounds. However, below the surface, this album follows Taylor’s journey of overcoming internal struggles and sustaining relationships, despite the media’s perception of her. “Call It What You Want,” perfectly encapsulates this theme. Swift explained that the track is about her “newly quiet, cozy world that was happening on [her] own terms for the first time.” In this comfortable relationship, she doesn’t seek the media’s approval at all. She sings, “my baby […] loves me like I’m brand new, so call it what you want to/Call it what you want to.” The track also has clear comparisons to her ealy hit Love Story, in which she sings “Romeo save me”, “all that’s left to do is run”, and “it’s a love story, baby just say ‘yes’.” In Call It What You Want, Swift sings, “you don’t need to save me/But would you run away with me?/Yes.” At this point in her life, she no longer needs saving, but still wants love on her own terms.

Photo by Blaize Exeter

22 5. Daylight This song is a beautiful, but underrated closing track on the Lover album. It takes on a mature perspective of healing yourself from a dark time, and forgiving yourself and those around you. Swift sings, “I’ve been sleeping so long in a 20 year dark night/But now I see daylight,” which demonstrates this theme. The best lyric, in my (Elise’s) biased Red-album-loving opinion, is “I once believed love would be burning red/but it’s golden.” In such few words, Swift manages to encapsulate her changed outlook on life following seven years of heartbreak, love, loss, and controversy. Where she once, most notably in the album “Red,” saw love as a war of passion, frustration, and sacrifice, she now sees love as something that shouldn’t consume you. Rather than it being a constant battle, love is peace, healing, and trust. Love is golden, like daylight. 7. Clean To put it quite simply, this track from her 1989 album is pure art. Opening with the lyric, “The drought was the very worst/When the flowers that we’d grown together/Died of thirst”, Swift wrote the song about realizing you are finally over someone. In an interview Swift explains, “I was walking out of Liberty in London. Someone I used to date— it hit me that I’d been in the same city as him for two weeks and I hadn’t thought about it.”. The lyrics elaborate this theme: “The rain came pouring down/When I was drowning, that’s when I could finally breathe/And by morning/Gone was any trace of you, I think I am finally clean/Rain came pouring down”. Throughout the years, “clean” has taken on different meanings to fans with their own struggles with mental illness and addiction. Swift performed this song once again on the reputation stadium tour, celebrating the one year anniversary of the verdict for her sexual assault case.

Graffiti | March 31, 2022 | Arts & Lifestyle

6. right where you left me This song is a criminally underrated bonus track from her evermore album. I (Kiana) personally believe that this song had the potential to be a single with a music video and the whole nine-yards. Although this song portrays incredibly sad imagery, it still remains almost cathartic in a way. The lyric “You left me no... you left me no... you left me no choice but to stay here forever!” radiates not only the anguish of heartbreak, but the anger that comes with it too. The first time I listened to this song I got actual chills during the percussive entrance the first time she sings “I stayed there”. During the second verse, the sparse instrumentals and the slowing tempos emulates the emptiness this character feels, and you can almost feel the scene that this verse describes unfold in slow motion. This song is almost like a vividly detailed motion picture (partly why I believe a music video would work perfectly with it); you can picture this girl appearing lifeless as time moves on past her.

8. Last Kiss This heart-wrenching track from her Speak Now album proves that even in her early career, Swift was a master of songwriting. Lyrics like “I feel you forget me like I used to feel you breathe/And I’ll keep up with our old friends just to ask them where you are/Hope it’s nice where you are” and “I’ll go sit on the floor wearing your clothes/All that I know is I don’t know/How to be someone you miss” demonstrate the type of emotional depth she was able to convey, even at such a young age. Every line of this song is masterful and heart wrenching, and these moving lyrics in combination with the shaky breaths and vocals in the bridge make Last Kiss the perfect for a perfect song to cry to.

9. Nothing New In this vault track from Red (Taylor’s Version), Taylor features Phoebe Bridgers in this emotional masterpiece that explores themes of women aging in the music industry. Lyrics such as, “Are we only biding time ‘til I lose your attention?/And someone else lights up the room?/People love an ingénue” and “How can a person know everything at 18 but nothing at 22?” demonstrate feeling like the world is growing out of you. However, even though she is singing about her fears of becoming irrelevant, this song’s lyrics are still versatile; it can be alternatively related to concerns of a lover losing their partner’s interest or the burn-out you feel as you grow up. Some fans even like to think of this song as a prequel to mirrorball, which we will discuss later on as our no.11 pick.

10. seven In this folklore track, Swift experiments with a sound she hasn’t yet explored that takes on a similar wistful, folk sound to Mazzy Star’s “Fade into You”. The meaning of this song isn’t entirely clear, which adds to its beauty; it is up for interpretation and it quickly became one of our favourite songs of all time. We do believe that it explores themes of childhood memories and domestic abuse. The opening verse begins with a plea: “Please picture me/In the trees/I hit my peak at seven”, depicting someone that is desperately trying to latch onto the childlike wonder they once had. The speaker wants that friend back, wants the life they could have had, and the people they could have become. They never ran away, they never escaped an abusive household or lived lives as pirates. They just grew up. The character Swift depicts in this song looks back on all of this with regret and longing.

12. ivy

In this haunting and poignant evermore track, Swift takes a less autobiographical approach. Because of the very nuanced lyrics, this song has lent itself to many different interpretations. My (Kiana’s) personal favourite is that this song is written from the perspective of a dead person (we’ll call her Ivy), reminiscing about how she was killed in a fire because she cheated on her husband (we’ll call her lover Angus and her husband Rob). The lyric, “In from the snow, your touch brought forth an incandescent glow” demonstrates how the touches that Angus and Ivy shared ultimately caused them to die in a fire lit by her husband. My personal favourite lyric, “My pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand/Taking mine, but it’s been promised to another”, is another clue towards this interpretation; their hands are freezing because they’re dead, and Ivy lets Angus hold her hands even though Rob has her hand in marriage.

Elise’s 3 Honourable Mentions State of Grace cowboy like me Sparks Fly Kiana’s 3 Honourable Mentions closure marjorie I Know Places

11. mirrorball In this wistful folklore track, Swift addresses her audience and fans about her insecurities as an artist. “When you shine a light on them, it’s this glittering, fantastic thing … when the spotlight isn’t on them they’re just still there, up on a pedestal but nobody’s watching them,” is the way Swift describes the symbolism of a mirrorball. In her documentary, Miss Americana, she discusses how female artists constantly have to reinvent themselves to stay relevant. We see this echoed in the lyric, “I can change everything about me to fit in”, where she tells us that she tries her absolute best to shine in the industry. The lyric “I’m still trying everything to get you looking at me” shows how she is always under pressure to prove herself and that she’s not the “villain” people made her out to be. I interpret this line as her wanting us to look at the artist she truly is, not the one the media has portrayed. She references the trapeze and tightrope in this song, which symbolize how careful/focused she must be to always create something “good enough” to maintain a stable career. This song is her message to us to show that her passion for music is still alive and that she’s not going anywhere.

13. All Too Well (10 minute version) The song All Too Well has been a fan favourite for a decade, and when the 10 minute version was announced for the rerecords, it soon became an iconic pop culture moment (you’ve probably heard of it from TikTok, convos with friends, etc). This song invites listeners to witness Swift’s relationship, as she retraces her memories of a debilitating breakup and reflects on her best and worst memories of her ex. The 10-minute version introduces beautiful lyrics such as “Did the twin flame bruise paint you blue?/Just between us, did the love affair maim you, too?” and “I was never good at telling jokes, but the punchline goes/I get older, but your lovers stay my age”. These new lyrics are joined by the already loved lyrics such as “You call me up again just to break me like a promise/So casually cruel in the name of being honest”. The outro leaves us with a haunting repetition of lyrics and harmonies. Swift repeats the line “I was there” several times as if she’s convincing herself and her lover that it did in fact happen, and that she does in fact remember this relationship all too well.

Arts & Lifestyle | March 31, 2022 | Graffiti

READING

Rate and review of popular BookTok books A look into some of Tik Tok’s book recommendations.

Amanda Oliveira Adrina Farzan Contributors

he Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo Rating: 5/5 stars Trigger warnings: sexual assault, domestic abuse, cheating, homophobia, alcoholism, mentions of suicide. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid is a historical fiction novel about a young Cuban woman in 1950s Los Angeles, making her way up to become an actress. We learn about her story in the present through a journalist named Monique Grant who was unexpectedly asked to interview the now-famous Evelyn Hugo. Although the readers and Monique are unsure of why she was picked when there were people that were obviously better suited to the role, it did not stop her from accepting the opportunity. The story is formatted in seven different parts; each part has a different husband and takes place at a different point in Evelyn’s life. In the beginning of Evelyn’s adulthood, she gets married for the first time to a man named Ernie Diaz. At this point in her life, she was struggling to get any big roles, not for lack of talent but because she was a woman of colour. It was then that she realized the only way to achieve her dreams was to try to fit into what others wanted by changing her name to her appearance. It was very relatable reading about how Evelyn changed herself and took away parts of her culture to fit into the American beauty standard and to be accepted by their society in order to succeed as a movie star. This led to her forgetting a lot about the cultural aspect of herself, which can be relatable to many young readers of colour. As the decades go by and Evelyn marries and divorces more men, her character evolves and matures. Through her walk of fame, she makes many mistakes, but that is what makes her so great. Evelyn’s character is realistic and flawed. She constantly repeats mistakes and makes selfish decisions while still being a character who we can sympathize with and understand. With that said, it was truly impressive what this book did. This was a story about change and history told by a woman who went through so many hard things and was finally able to tell her story. Not many historical fiction books can interest readers like this book did, and the way the story was told was extremely fascinating and really immersed you in Evelyn’s world. Overall, we found The

Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo heart-warming, fascinating, and an attention grabbing stand-alone novel that we highly recommend for all interested in reading it. Six of Crows Rating: 5/5 stars Trigger warnings: Violence, death, graphic injury, fantasy drug abuse, rape/sex trafficking/CSA, guns, slavery, racism (exotification), genocide. Leigh Bardugo’s bestseller novel Six of Crows takes place in the busy streets of Ketterdam, a city where six outcasts will come together to pull off an impossible heist. However, in order to do that, they will need to break into the im-

the best part of Six of Crows has to be how connected and relatable the characters are. Even though it seems crazy to relate with powerful teenagers in a dangerous heist, they all had realistic traits and origins that makes the reader think they themselves are a character in the story. Another great aspect of this book are the bonds between the main characters. During the heist they came close to dying several times, which only brought them closer. They soon become each other’s found family and have several heart-warming and comical scenes which we found very enjoyable to read.

Photo by Elena Vlitas penetrable and deadly Ice Court and retrieve one of their most valuable prisoners. Otherwise, they will not get the money they were promised, and will have put their lives at risk for nothing. A convict, a sharpshooter, a runaway, a spy, a heartrender, and a thief. As they work together they will all have to put aside their differences and hope their past doesn’t come back to haunt them on their difficult journey. Their past is something that appears throughout the book as we learn about it in bits and pieces through flashbacks. We slowly piece it together as a separate storyline and learn that some of the characters were connected in ways we never would have expected. Due to their tragic backstory, we couldn’t help but mourn for them, despite the immoral things the main characters were doing. This book really made us shift the way we perceived who the “villains” were, making it all the more fascinating. Regardless,

In general, Six of Crows is an utterly bewitching novel with good queer, POC, and disability representation. We do strongly recommend this book and the sequel Crooked Kingdom. Keep in mind that the Six of Crows duology is a spin-off to the Shadow and Bone series. Although you don’t need to read the Shadow & Bone series before the duology, it is recommended. Moreover, there is a TV show based on these books which we also suggest. Verity Rating: 4/5 stars Trigger warnings: attempted abortion, child abuse), murder, drowning, taking care of a sick parent, violence. The book Verity by Colleen Hoover is a psychological thriller novel with a romance subplot. It is about a struggling writer in New York City named Lowen Ashleigh who was given the opportunity to become a ghostwriter for a famous book series by Verity Crawford. This

was due to the fact that Verity was in a paralyzing car crash and could no longer move by herself, let alone write. Lowen was the series’ only hope. When Lowen moves into Verity’s mansion with her husband and his child to prepare for her writing, she comes across a manuscript Verity had written before the accident that reveals twisted secrets that would change the Crawford’s lives forever. This unravels a web of events that make Lowen and you as the reader not know who to trust, or if you can even trust anyone. The most impressive part of Verity in our opinion is the way the characters were written to manipulate your thoughts and emotions. None of the characters in this book could be described as “good people,’’ but when you are dealing with an unreliable narrator like Lowen, you tend to agree with her thoughts, emotions, and obsessive behaviours. You cannot truly trust Lowen’s retelling of the events of Verity as there is nobody to confirm if her thoughts are being exaggerated, making the novel even more unsettling. Jeremy, Verity’s husband, seems perfect, taking care of his severely injured wife who always looking tortured by the state of her health, but as you continue reading, you begin to wonder if there’s a much darker reason for his grief and guilt. The manuscript is definitely the most vital part of this book; it is supposed to explain all of the unanswered questions Lowen has about the mysterious Crawford family, but instead makes Lowen lose any belief she had that the Crawfords residence was a safe place to stay. As you switch between Lowens’ perspective in the present and Verity’s manuscript chapters you realize how many parallels there are between Verity and Lowen. Even so, Verity is a character that leaves you enraptured, and it seems like all the characters in the novel were only there for Verity’s development. The last chapters of this book have high stakes. You truly believe you have passed the darkest part of the book until you reach the last twenty pages, which make you fully reconsider who to trust and who was really in the wrong. The ending leaves you with numerous questions that will never be answered, making you feel incomplete in the best possible way. For these reasons we believe Verity was a good read but it is not a book for the light of heart with the ghastly moments it has. We recommend Verity to people that want to be kept on their toes and want a book they can analyze for a long time after they’ve flipped the last page.

Graffiti | March 31, 2022 | Arts & Lifestyle

MUSIC

Emily D’Angelo: NT’s claim to fame Kiara Distin Section Editor

he 2022 Juno Awards are fast approaching, and while I don’t know much about the nominees, I do know one thing: this year, North Toronto C.I. has a personal connection. Emily D’Angelo, NT alum of 2012, is nominated for the 2022 Juno Awards in the Best Classical Album Award (Solo) category for her album energeia, featuring newly-interpreted works from the 12th and 21st centuries. In May 2021, she signed with Deutsche Grammophon (the biggest classical music label in the world) as an exclusive recording artist for them, and the album came out in October, only five months after signing. NPR named it one of the 50 best albums of 2021, featured it on their 100 best songs of 2021, and CBC called it the best Canadian classical album of 2021. D’Angelo is a University of Toronto graduate, earning a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance before joining the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio. She is a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio, and the Ravinia Steans Institute. The 28-year-old vocalist

has already had endless accomplishments in her short time in the spotlight, including being a Lincoln Center Emerging Artist, the first and only vocalist to win the Leonard Bernstein Award from the Schleswig Holstein Festival, Canada’s “Top 30 Under 30” Classical Musicians, WQXR NYC Public Radio’s “40 Under 40,” and various (endless) opera-singing competitions. Although she studied and later pursued vocal performance in university, she played cello during her time at NT. In 2016, D’Angelo made a sort of “encore” at her high school to perform a solo in Mozart’s Requiem, flooring everyone who heard her powerful and beautiful voice. She captured the attention of Ms. Monteith, recently retired NT teacher, who had nothing but kind words to say about the successful star. Ms. Monteith got to know D’Angelo in grade 10 or 11 when she overheard her cello playing - “focused on getting a passage of the music they were playing, not just right, but actively working at making it sound very expressive.” Clearly, this desire to perfect the emotion that goes into her music has taken her far, as did her parents “[telling] her to follow what she felt was her greatest passion,” and her singing teacher, who “strongly encouraged her to explore developing the potential that her voice has.” In an homage to her high

Photo courtesy of Opera News school-born love for cello, many of her recordings feature a cello as a duet partner. This makes sense, as her character has remained true; “She doesn’t seem to have an ego even after she’s won so many opera competitions, she is still the same friendly and appreciative person she was in high school,” says Ms. Monteith. “Her career is taking off into the stratosphere but her feet are still planted on the ground, in

this nod to her high school self.” As of now, D’Angelo is in various operas, performing in numerous productions and projects across the globe. Even people who don’t love opera will remember D’Angelo’s voice forever. You can listen to her album and more works on Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube Music - and you should.

REALITY TV

The best and the worst 90 Day Fiancé couples: ranked and rated Leila Schrenk Contributor

ooking for funny and bizarre entertainment? Check out these couples and their eccentric love stories! 10. Big Ed and Rose Season: 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days Season 4 Relationship Status: Broken Up 54 year old Big Ed traveled to the Philippines to meet his 23 year old “online” girlfriend, Rose. During his visit, Ed asked Rose to take an STI test, told her she had bad breath, and tried to “gift” her mouthwash and a toothbrush, and lied to her multiple times about wanting children. It was also clear to Rose that Ed had been lying about his height. By the end of

the trip, Rose walked out on “Big” Ed. Big Ed’s height is due to a condition called Klippel Feil Syndrome. It’s an abnormal fusion of two or more bones in the neck. Big Ed’s insecurity about his height clouds his judgment in matters of the heart. In May of 2020, Big Ed became an international internet meme due to his condition and his #awkward relationship with Rose. Ed is back on the dating circuit and appeared on 90 Day Fiancé: The Single Life, with his now fiancé, Liz. Hopefully Ed doesn’t make such a stink about halitosis this time around. Rating: 1.4/10 9. Colt(y) and Larissa Season: 90 Day Fiancé Season 6 Relationship Status: Divorced Colt first appeared on 90 Day Fiancé with his Brazilian fiancé, Larissa. They got mar-

ried in 2018 but their relationship quickly disintegrated due to irreconcilable differences between Larissa and Colt, or “Colty” as she calls him, and his mom Debbie, who the couple was living with at the time. Larissa was arrested, twice, on counts of domestic battery against Colt, but charges were dropped both times. Colt then appeared on 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After season 5 with his new Brazilian girlfriend, Jess. They broke up after Colt cheated on Jess with his friend Vanessa, who Jess suspected he had feelings for all along. After their split, Colt appeared on 90 Day: The Single Life where he got together with Vanessa, officially. Colt and Vanessa got married in April of 2021 but are now divorced, with Debbie being (once again) a driving factor in their split as she essentially turns all of Colt’s

relationships into a throuple. Lesson learned. Three’s a crowd in a relationship! Rating: 1.8/10 8. Angela and Michael Seasons: 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days Seasons 2 and 3, 90 Day Fiancé Season 7, 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After? Season 6 Relationship Status: Married 54 year old Angela and 32 year old Michael first appeared on 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days Season 2. Angela traveled to Nigeria to meet Micheal and they immediately ran into problems due to their age gap and the pressure put on Angela by Michael’s family to have a baby. In an effort to please her partner’s family, Angela asked her daughter, Skyla, to carry the couple’s baby, as Angela only had a few viable eggs left due to her age.

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Arts & Lifestyle | March 31, 2022 | Graffiti Skyla politely declined. Throughout their entire relationship, Angela has been verbally and emotionally abusive to Michael and even tried to get someone to hack into Michael’s phone. After 3 years of dating, the couple got married in Nigeria and Angela went back to the U.S while Michael awaits his immigration approvals. Angela says she wants to look younger for Michael and recently underwent five surgeries in one day including a gastric sleeve procedure, liposuction on her back, and a breast reduction. PSA to Angela: if you want to look young, stop smoking! Rating: 2.3/10 7. Lisa and Usman Season: 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days Season 4 Relationship Status: Divorced Lisa (a.k.a Baby Girl Lisa), flew to Nigeria to meet her boyfriend Usman (a.k.a SojaBoy) and immediately viewers were calling the couple “discount Angela and Michael” and “Angela and Micheal from Wish.’’ Lisa and Usman had major cultural and age differences, with Lisa being 53 years old and Usam 32. Despite these differences, the couple got married in 2020. This was surprising to viewers, as Lisa was often aggressive and rude towards Usman and extremely jealous; going as far as making him take a woman out of the music video for the song he wrote about her. Viewers were also surprised that Lisa was okay with Usman taking a second wife if Lisa could not give him a child, which was unlikely due to her age. Lisa and Usman are now divorced as they no longer felt happy in their marriage. In a now deleted Instagram Live Video, Usman claimed he only married Lisa because they would “be on a TV show that people would recognize his name to sell his music.” Usman is currently on 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days Season 5 dating Kimberly, a 50 year old woman who fell in love with Usman from watching him on his season with Lisa. Best of luck, Kim! Rating: 2.4/10 6. David and Lana Season: 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days Season 4 Relationship Status: Broken Up

Over the course of seven years, David spent over $250,000 on a Ukrainian dateline website talking to his longtime, online girlfriend, Lana. He also made several trips to Ukraine during that time period. Viewers (and David’s friends) were convinced that David was being catfished as the previous three times he had gone to the Ukraine to meet Lana, she was unable to meet with him in-person. On his fourth trip to meet Lana, she once again stood him up. After this trip, David hired a private investigator to track down Lana. The investigator advised David that Lana was a catfish. David immediately fired the investigator because he didn’t believe it and instead took a fifth trip to the Ukraine in order to find Lana himself. During this trip, viewers were extremely shocked to find out that Lana was indeed a real person, although some speculated the online dating site that David met Lana on made her go in order to prove that the dating website is real, not a catfish scam. David proposed to Lana with a ring and an iPhone. During the end of season tell-all show, David said that they were broken up, and Lana later stated that accepting David’s marriage proposal was just for the show. Oof, that hurts! Rating: 3.7/10 5. Stephanie and Erika Season: 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days Season 4 Relationship Status: Broken Up Stephanie and Erika were the first same sex couple to appear on 90 Day Fiancé. Stephanie flew from New York to Melbourne, Australia to see if they could take their online relationship to a new level. Their relationship quickly crumbled as insecurities, trust issues, jealousy, and betrayal got in the way. Since the show, Stephanie started selling her flatulence in a jar and made over $200,000 dollars. Recently, she was hospitalized due to the strain her business was putting on her body. Due to the hospitalization, she has pivoted from selling her toots to selling fart jar NFT’s (non-fungible tokens). Who’s buying all this digital hot air?! Rating: 4.4/10

4. Jenny and Sumit Season: 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way Seasons 1-3 Relationship Status: Married Jenny and Sumit first met online in 2012 when Sumit catfished Jenny pretending to be a 25 year old British man named Michael Jones. When Sumit revealed his true identity, Jenny still wanted to continue a relationship with him. In 2019, after seven years of dating, Jenny decided to permanently move to India and marry Sumit. Sumit’s parents disapproved of Jenny due to her age as Jenny is 30 years older than Sumit. Sumit’s mother even threatened to harm herself if Sumit married Jenny. After moving to India, Jenny discovered that Sumit was already married to a woman his parents had chosen, and quickly left the country. In early 2020, Jenny decided to give her and Sumit another chance and the couple got married in 2021 without telling Sumit’s parents. It seems that Summit’s family has come around to Jenny, with his mom making a visit to their home to teach Jenny how to be a good wife. Welcome to the fam’ Jenny! Rating: 6.1/10 3. Chantel and Pedro Season: Day Fiancé Season 4, The Family Chantel Seasons 1-3 Relationship Status: Married Chantel and Pedro met in the Dominican Republic. Chantel went to the DR to learn Spanish while Pedro was working to improve his English. After Pedro proposed, Chantel lied to her family telling them that Pedro was in the U.S. on a student visa. When Chantel’s family found out that Pedro was actually in the U.S. on a fiancé visa, they accused him of using her for a green card and to send money back to the Dominican Republic. This kickstarted one of the most dramatic family feuds in 90 Day Fiancé history. All this drama created must-see-tv and led to the family getting their own spinoff show called The Family Chantel. The Family Chantel focuses on not only Chantel and Pedro’s relationship with each other and with Chantel’s family - it also lets viewers peek into the relationships of their parents and siblings. So. Much. Drama. Rating: 7.8/10

2. David and Annie Season: Day Fiancé Season 5, David and Annie: After the 90 Days, 90 Day Fiancé: Pillow Talk Relationship Status: Married David and Annie, who have a 21 year age gap, first met when David was on a trip to Thailand and Annie was a bartender at a club he visited. Even though the couple struggled financially and David’s family’s resistance to accept Annie as part of their family, the couple got married in October of 2017. While they may have gotten off to a rocky start, they clearly have a deep connection and a lot of fun together. David and Annie are one of the most loved 90 Day couples.They have appeared on multiple seasons of 90 Day Fiancé: Pillow Talk and now have their own cooking show on TLC called 90 Day: Foody Call as well as David and Annie: After the 90 Days where they are focusing on bringing her brother and one of her cousins back to the USA. Everyone wants more David and Annie! Rating: 9.5/10 1. Loren and Alexi Season: Day Fiancé Season 3, Loren and Alexi: After the 90 Days, 90 Day Fiancé: Pilowtalk Relationship Status: Married Loren and Alexi first met on Loren’s birthright trip to Israel where Alexi was the tour medic. Viewers instantly fell in love with the couple’s genuine and loving relationship as it was different from most of the relationships portrayed on the show. Loren has Tourette’s syndrome and one of the main struggles in their relationship was worrying if it would be passed on to their children. The couple currently have two children and are hoping to have more in the future. Loren’s honesty and openness has made viewers like the couple even more. Loren and Alexi have appeared on 90 Day Fiancé: Pillow Talk and now have their own spinoff show, Loren and Alexi: After the 90 Days, which details their journey as new parents to son Shai and Loren’s pregnancy with their second child. Loren and Alexi set the bar high for 90 Day warm and fuzzies! Rating: 10/10

READING

The rise of Goodreads: a comeback for literature Giullia Tiosso Copy Editor Bia Soares Contributor

ith the popularization of TikTok, a lot of “sides” were created. Hashtags are made based on the users’ preference, as they interact less with popular videos and

more with unique clips. One of the most popular hashtags on Tiktok recently is #booktok. With more than 40.3B views, literature has started to flourish again among teenagers. Given this sudden spread of interest in literature on TikTok, a lot of people started using a platform called “Goodreads” to help them keep track of their reading goals and go through book reviews and recommendations. Goodreads is extremely

convenient to use. For example, if you like to read online and have a Kindle, a reading device where you can read books, articles, or documents online, you can link your Goodreads to your Kindle account and add notes or ratings to books you have already read. Something that people tend to like on Goodreads is the various widgets that allow users to customize their shelves, get personalized recommenda-

tions, search databases for their favourite quotes, and leave a review. You can also follow your favourite authors and see how well your friends are doing with their reading goals. The goal of Goodreads is to help people find and share books they love and improve the process of learning and reading throughout the world, and it is rapidly gaining users across the globe.

Graffiti | March 31, 2022 | Arts & Lifestyle

TV SHOWS

In case you live under a rock: Euphoria edition Blaize Exeter Section Editor

would like to thank Dominic Fike for giving me the push I needed to watch this show because even though I’m a certified Zswagger (no, we’re not called Dayastars; that was propaganda), I really wasn’t planning on it. Please note that the following is based on all episodes up until season 2, episode 7 (the first half of the play). Spoilers ahead! Season 2 Character Ranking (from worst to best) 10. Cal Jacobs Self-explanatory. 9. Nate Jacobs Nate is sick and twisted. I thought he would take it down a notch after Fez put him on life support but no, he just had to go and torment Maddy with a GUN. And what’s with all the break-ins? Does no one have a security system in this town? Anyways, the only reason Nate is ranked above his father is because he’s not a pedophile. And no, I don’t care that he gave Jules the tape 100 years after he should have. 8. Cassie Howard I was rooting for Cassie last season but my stan card has been turned in ever since she got into that truck with Nate. It’s BAD for Cassie (sorry Emma). She did all that and for what? Each episode I keep thinking it can’t get any worse but miraculously, she continues to hit new lows. Also, she had NO business dragging Rue as if she isn’t just as disastrous.

me to hate her. At the end of the day she’s a good person who got caught up in something she can’t control. I just hope she realizes that her life is worth living. 4. Ashtray Ashtray is the smartest and most resourceful child I have ever seen on screen. His loyalty to Fez continues to provide us with episode-stealing scenes like the Cal interrogation, but also makes me worry about his safety. 3. Maddy Perez Maddy is THE it-girl and I really felt seen when she said that she wanted to grow up and do nothing. These past two seasons have been a LOT for Maddy but she’s definitely handled her challenges much better than her peers. Also, the looks she’s been giving this season??? There’s just no competition. 2. Fezco Okay Fezco hive, I hear you and I see you, but we also have to keep in mind that Fez deals hard drugs to teenagers. Also, he was like 22 in the first season so him hanging around high schoolers was a little strange. That aside, what’s not to love about Fezco? He’s the ultimate sweetheart but will beat someone’s face in when necessary. 1. Lexi Howard I didn’t think much of Lexi last season but this season there’s just no denying her star power. Literally who else in this show possesses a shard of her talent? Writer, director, actor and choreographer??? NO ONE is touching her. Does she have her flaws? Of course. Her jealousy of Cassie will

not go unchecked, but in the grand scheme of things, she’s doing better than everyone else. Wait, What about Kat? Though Kat was my favourite character last season, I don’t even think she counts as one now, which is why I didn’t include her in my official ranking. In case you were wondering, I would have slotted her in between Elliot and Jules. I’m sure you’ve heard the rumours about what’s been going on behind the scenes but just to recap: Barbie Ferreira got into a couple heated arguments with Sam Levinson (the show creator) about the direction her character was going. Those creative differences resulted in her walking off set multiple times. In the end, a majority of Barbie’s lines were cut putting a once main character into the background. Even with the five minutes of screen time she got this season, her character was nothing like she was last season at all. In an interview with Who What Wear, when asked about the drastic change in Kat, Ferreira commented, “I think people might be a little bit surprised.” In regards to her character’s confidence in the first season, she said, “I think it was a façade that even she didn’t really believe in.” We’ll never know whether it was truly a façade or if HBO just told her to say that, but either way, whoever’s wearing that bob is #NotMyKat. What Happened to Mckay? Unlike Kat, who at least had some proof of life this season, Chris Mckay seems to have fallen off the face of the Earth. There was speculation of conflict due to his stance

on the vaccine but those claims have been denied multiple times by both HBO and Algee Smith who plays Mckay. So if that’s not it, then where the heck is Mckay? Turn’s out, Smith doesn’t know either. When Daily Beast asked him about the future of his character, Smith responded with, “I think that’s a question we have to ask our creator [Levinson], where he sees it going. We haven’t even gotten that far in the conversation, him and myself, on this, actually.” Sam Levinson could totally be doing that “Cobra Kai,” thing where certain characters don’t show up for a season but then return the next. But, with the way things were left with his character, I find it bizarre there wasn’t at least a little closure established before Mckay’s disappearance. Literally, the last two events were Mckay falling victim to a brutal hazing ritual at a college party and Nate tormenting him about his hook up with Cassie. Not to mention, Smith was the only Black male in the season one cast, so if Sam thinks introducing a biracial actor in the second season fills the diversity quota, he would be incorrect. After stalking his IMDB, I concluded that Chris has BEEN booked and busy (as he should). Yes, he got his big break playing Ralph Tresvant on The Bobby Brown Story, but more importantly, he had minor roles on Disney’s Let It Shine and Nickelodeon’s How To Rock (someone please tell me they were obsessed with that show too). And on top of that, he’s got some new projects in the works. So, even if we don’t see Mckay again in Euphoria, he’ll still be around somewhere on our screens.

7. Elliot

Elliot isn’t as bad as Nate or Cassie but he’s still manipulative and evil. Though the home he’s wrecking is made of glass, Elliot is a home-wrecker nonetheless. He’s also an enabler so I really don’t see him moving up in the foreseeable future. 6. Jules Vaughn I am a proud member of Jules hive but as much as I would love to give her a higher spot, cheating on Rue with the guy she was scared of being cheated on with is ridiculous. The only reason she’s above Elliot is because she’s not as conniving and truly does mean well (most of the time). 5. Rue Bennett Rue was probably my hardest ranking because even though I want to resent her for all the harm she’s caused, I just can’t find it in

Photo courtesy of Glamour

Photo courtesy of Instagram

Arts & Lifestyle | March 31, 2022 | Graffiti

Photo courtesy of People Unpopular Opinions I ship Jules and Elliot. I’ll stand in my villainy for this one, but I’m sorry, I will be dying on this hill and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. Rue and Jules were so much better as friends and for both their sakes they need to go back to that and STAY there. Rue cannot provide Jules with the attention she needs and Jules can’t handle the pressure of being Rue’s only cause for sobriety. Their relationship never stood a chance. Jules and Elliot on the other hand are still toxic but I feel if/when they break up the loss would be significantly less than if Rue and Jules never spoke again. I find Gia annoying. I don’t have a legitimate reason for this other than the fact that she’s ALWAYS peeking around a corner crying. Yes, it’s for a good reason and I do feel bad for what she has to go through, but I don’t know I’m just kinda sick of it. Cal isn’t the comedic villain you think he is. If you think him yelling at his family after peeing on the floor was funny, I can respect that. But if you think that excuses him from ANYTHING then you are absolutely incorrect. Even when he was calling out his family for not accepting him or whatever, he blamed his children for ruining his life even though he could’ve easily just used protection (or practiced abstinence) to be off living the life of his dreams. Also, not to mention, he’s a pedophile and a predator. And with that dream Nate had, I wouldn’t be surprised if it actually happened. Literally, the only good thing to come out of his backstory was Henry Eikenberry who played Derek. It’s gonna be #death to any sort of redemption arc for Cassie. I never thought this opinion would be unpopular but apparently it is. Cassie has gone way past the point of no return and I don’t care that

her hair was SICKENING during the play episode. #Fexi kinda flopped. Now don’t get me wrong, I was screaming alongside y’all when Lexi and Fez were singing “Stand by Me,” but then Fannita on Tiktok said they had no chemistry and I realized she was right. Even those pics Angus and Maude took on their New York date didn’t reignite what I once felt for them. We’ve already established that I love both Fezco and Lexi so I’m not anti-Fexi, it’s just not giving what it’s supposed to. What I Want for Season 3 Euphoria has been greenlit for a third season and I’m just as excited as everyone else, but there are a few things on my wishlist that need to be fulfilled. 1. Character consistency Sometimes I wonder if Sam actually watched the previous episodes of the show because main

characters will do things that make absolutely no sense from what we’ve seen of them so far. For example, would season one Kat have gaslit Ethan into breaking up with her? I don’t think so. Do I think she would’ve been direct? Also no, but she wouldn’t have come up with something so unserious. A terminal brain disease? That’s just ridiculous. 2. Elliot’s backstory I’m sure we’re going to get Elliot’s episode sooner or later but I’m going to need it effective immediately. If it’s not in the first three episodes of the new season I will riot. He’s just such an interesting character, and even though he was in half of the episodes this season, we still know next to nothing about him. Like who’s that girl he’s always with? Does she own the place he stays at? 3. A deeper dive into Fezco and Ashtray’s relationship Yes, we got the Fez episode

which was excellent, so I would love it if we could get some flashbacks on their growing up together. I think their dynamic is so unique and if Ashtray doesn’t make it out of season 2, having some extra scenes sprinkled throughout the next season might be able to compensate for the tragic loss. 4. A whodunnit murder mystery A mandabb on Youtube said she would like a ‘who killed Nate’ season and I am 100% here for it. I feel like Euphoria is already headed down the Riverdale route so why not go all the way? We all want him gone anyways so this would be the perfect way to maximize that event. 5. More diversity in the main cast Out of the 10 main cast members I ranked, there are max 3 people of colour (Alexa Demie is still TBD) and two of them are biracial. I just find it odd that with all of the references, music and aesthetics they borrow from Black American culture there isn’t a single Black actor who doesn’t pass the paper bag test. And don’t even think about mentioning Bobbi because that girl had like 2 minutes of screen time the entire season. Do I Want a Season 4? Yes, but also no. Realistically, Euphoria will get greenlit for a fourth season, which I would definitely be seated for. But, the show is already going downhill so I’m a little scared to see how off the rails Sam will take it by then (at least 2028). If they go ahead with season 4, I’m gonna need it to be the last peace and love. Notes for Sam Levinson We’re gonna need to dial it back w the genitalia. Bring back Labrinth effective immediately. Stop being gross, the characters are supposed to be TEENAGERS. Get Hunter Schafer back into the writing room.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Graffiti | March 31, 2022 | Business & Technology

business & technology COVID-19

The impact of COVID restrictions on small businesses Brooke Williams Contributor

mall businesses play an extremely significant role in the Canadian economy, as over 95% of Canadian businesses are small. Contextually, although the definition of a small business varies depending on industry or location, a small business generally has fewer than 100 employees. Canada’s small businesses contribute to 38.4% of Canada’s GDP, provide 150,000 new jobs each year, and currently employ 8.4 million Canadians. However, COVID restrictions over the past two years have been catastrophic for the success of small businesses, and from March to April 2020, Canada’s GDP decreased by 18.2%. During the pandemic, both the restaurant and retail industry were hit hard by shutdowns and restrictions. For the restaurant industry, at the start of the pandemic restrictions forced them to shut down entirely. This led to many workers being laid off. As of April 2020, 800,000 food service employees were out of work. These shutdowns led to restaurants having to adapt and shift services to take out and delivery. A problem caused by the constant closings and reopenings is that the restaurant industry has suffered greatly with staffing issues, as workers who got laid off when restaurants closed had to find jobs elsewhere. The overall uncertainty of the restaurant and foodservice industry during pandemic restrictions led to people looking elsewhere for a more stable workplace. As a result, when restrictions were lifted for restaurants, many businesses found themselves scrambling to find staff. Recent restrictions moving Ontario back to Step 2 of its Roadmap to Reopening this January, which banned all indoor dining, specifically upset the foodservice and restaurant industry. In a statement, Restaurants Canada declared that, “The foodservice industry continues to bear the brunt of the restrictions and pay the cost of fighting this pandemic, despite having done everything they have been asked.” For retail businesses, a main problem with the restrictions was being left in the grey area between remaining open and being closed. The determination of what businesses are “non-essential” versus

“essential” was very unclear, frustrating many small business owners who were forced to shut their doors. In January 2021, during the second major lockdown, big box retailers such as Costco or Walmart remained open. They were deemed essential because they sell groceries; however, they also sell other goods, taking business away from small retailers. During these same restrictions, small businesses were limited to curbside pickup with reduced hours. Many small business owners expressed their anger that these conditions favoured large businesses. Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (CFIB) President Dan Kelly stated that, “If it is dangerous to buy a book at an independent bookseller, why isn’t it dangerous at Costco?”. The pandemic and its restrictions created a large shift to online shopping; however, not all small businesses offer these services, further directing sales to large companies.

Adding to the complexity of openings and closings, COVID restrictions require small businesses to enforce safety protocol, despite some of their customers not agreeing. Small businesses have dealt with customers who were angered by the guidelines, which are set by the provincial government. Enforcing these mandates meant dealing with angered or even violent customers who disrespect staff members and business owners. It is clear that small businesses have been severely affected by the pandemic, but what exactly is the Ontario government doing to help? In January, when Ontario returned to Step 2 of reopening, the government introduced its Ontario Small Business Support Grant and the Ontario Business Costs Rebate Program. The grant allowed all eligible businesses to receive $10,000 if they were required to shut down or limit capacity, the Rebate Program provides businesses with re-

bate payments for up to 100% of property tax or energy costs. Small businesses are able to apply for financial aid from the Government of Canada, in areas such as wage and hiring support or rent and property expenses support. Although government benefits may be helpful to some extent, they aren’t enough to keep all struggling small businesses alive. The CFIB reported that the average debt of small businesses as a result of the pandemic is $190,000. Throughout the pandemic, restrictions have left a long term impact on small businesses, in many cases closing them entirely. Small businesses are the fabric of the economy, bringing life and character to city streets. The success of small businesses is dependent on community support, so when going shopping, consider supporting a local business instead of a large chain.

Illustration by Danielle Xin

Business & Technology | March 31, 2022 | Graffiti

JOB MARKET

Internships and entry-level jobs: no longer a guarantee Ethan Cairns Contributor

n many of the most interesting, well-paying, and fast-growing industries that students are trying to enter, there is a fairly cutand-dry path to a good career. I’m sure many of you have some sort of plan along these lines: high school courses lead to an undergraduate degree, which leads to an internship, which leads to entry-level opportunities, and eventually a stable career. This pathway has been standard in industries ranging from theoretical science to banking for decades. However, in recent years, entry-level experiential opportunities that are a major part of the pathway have become incredibly unreliable and often impossible to attain. Companies that used to offer countless paid internships now may offer only a few highly competitive opportunities, often without pay or compensation. The reasons for this unsettling trend are wide-ranging: COVID-19 has affected in-person work and budgeting, online applications have increased competition and reliance on padded resumes, and automation in the workplace has drastically reduced the number of interns and entry-level workers that companies need to hire. If a grade 12 student at North Toronto wants to gain experience through an internship in university, or get a good start on their career out of post-secondary school, they are going to have

to deal with this disturbing fact. A job is no longer “guaranteed” out of university, and students must think a lot harder about what they want to do with their career. A plan that may seem watertight today may be far less feasible than it seems due to the factors that have reduced the availability of entry-level positions from a healthy river to a muddy trickle. The truth is, the job market today is more hostile to young workers than it has been in prior decades, despite relatively healthy growth in many fields. The most recent culprit causing this difficulty for students is COVID-19. A report from the Sutton Trust in July 2020 found that 61% of the employers they surveyed have cancelled some or all of the internships they offer, and the situation has only gotten worse since then, as lockdowns continue worldwide. As many companies lay off employees and move many aspects of business into the online world, they have far less need for interns or fresh-faced employees. Managers and CEOs have discovered that online work can accomplish almost as much as in-person, without the need for interns as glorified assistants, allowing them to slim down their staff and stop hiring inexperienced new workers. Most industries are also under much more financial strain than they are used to, and the expense of hiring, training, and compensating these entry-level workers in the midst of a pandemic is simply too much of a risk. Of course these companies will opt for more experienced applicants, especially when there are plenty of laidoff employees to hire. Completely

separate from COVID, however, is another factor affecting the availability of entry-level positions: the automation and informational bloating plaguing the application process. Online tools designed to assist applicants, such as Job Bank or Indeed, allow potential employees to submit countless resumes in a single day. This leads to job listings with hundreds of applications, meaning interviewers need their own automated tools to sift through them. These tools in turn lead to employers selecting applicants whose resumes display more years of experience and more buzzwords instead of of aspiring workers just out of university, even for so-called “entry-level” positions. The final and most distressing change that has caused the drop in available positions is the general wave of automation that has swept over almost all industries of late. Digital tools ranging from Microsoft Office to Zoom, as well as the increasing interconnectedness of every workplace, allow one person to do the job of three or four. Why should a business hire an intern or a new university graduate when their current employees can do the same job more efficiently, and for less investment? This question will only grow more prominent in the minds of CEOs as workplace productivity continues to increase, driven by the constant forward march of technological innovation. The common thread that links these troubling factors is that an internship or minimum wage position may now require a university degree, as well as years of prior experience - experience that is often impossible to obtain with-

out the positions themselves. In an article from last September, Jack Kelly wrote for Forbes that nowadays, “Roles posted as ‘entry level’ require around three-plus years of relevant experience.” This paradoxical arrangement serves to keep current and future graduates such as ourselves out of the workforce, fighting for the few positions that are available. These effects can begin to be seen even now within NT’s co-op program. When asked about COVID-19’s effect on the program, grade 11 student Matthew Barnes stated that, “[it] has negatively affected the availability of a lot of jobs, as well as forced many positions into a virtual environment… [hospitals] are not accepting as many students as before and it is all virtual.” While Matthew also said that there are still many placements available for a variety of industries, it is obvious that COVID has affected co-op almost as much as it has affected the real job market. The factors reducing entry-level position availability are touching the lives of high school students as well as university students and graduates. Planning for a career and getting started in the workforce is more important - and more difficult - than it ever was for previous generations. Even with COVID beginning to come under control, there are larger issues that will still affect aspiring workers. This includes NT students, so if you think you’ve got a plan for your life, an amazing career laid out in front of you, think twice. Experiential learning that is virtually mandatory as the first step into employment is growing harder and harder to find every year.

GAMING

Play-to-earn gaming: can you really earn money playing crypto games? How video games are being altered by the world of cryptocurrency Leila Schrenk Contributor

ave you ever dreamed of making money playing video games? Well now that dream can become a reality with play-to-earn crypto games. Playto-earn has taken the crypto world by storm and is a new way to earn money doing something you love. Sure, if you were an elite e-sports player or streamer you could probably make money from subscriber views and ad revenue, but for most of us, games are primarily a form of

entertainment. The-play-to earn model is changing that, allowing you to earn money by investing in and playing games. Most video games allow players to gain and spend some sort of game specific token. These tokens can then be used to buy digital assets that represent a character, resource or item for use within the game. For example, Fortnite V-Bucks can be earned or purchased and used to buy game characters or skins. These skins can’t be sold or traded to other players, making them simply in-game commodities that have no real world value. Play-to-earn games on the other hand, like Pokemon-inspired

Axie Infinity or Decentraland, the Minecraft-like Metaverse game allows the digital assets, usually crypto tokens or NFTs earned within the games, to be sold or traded to other players in a marketplace. In most cases, it can be converted into real-world currency. For example, Axie Infinity, which is currently the most popular play-to-earn game, has over 1 million active daily users. Players perform quests and battle other players in an arena with a collection of characters called Axies. As players complete tasks and win battles, they can gain in-game tokens which can be used to improve character traits and gain additional tokens. These tokens can then be

cashed out on the Ethereum network for a real-world currency. So, is it time to quit your job and live full time playing these play-to-earn crypto games? Probably not. The average Axie Infinity player makes around $5 USD an hour, and although this may seem like a fun way to earn bonus cash, players need to purchase a collection of three NFT characters called Axies in order to start playing. With a current minimum cost of approximately $1,000 USD. This can be a big investment with no guarantee of return. continued on the next page...

30 So, why all the hype? Are people really earning millions, or are play-to-earn games just a scam? Although $5 USD an hour may not seem like very much in a country where the average hourly minimum wage is $15, in some developing nations, $5 USD could be considered a livable wage. In countries such as the Philippines or Venezuela, players have been able to quit their jobs and become full time play-to-earn gamers, often earning a middle class income.

Graffiti | March 31, 2022 | Business and Tech

Where the big money is being made is in lending these players Axie Collections. Axie owners or “Managers” will lend new players or “Scholars” their collections. Scholars will play to earn the daily maximum of tokens and pay the Axie owner 40% of the earnings as rent. Axie Infinity is being compared to a pyramid scheme because it is a closed system economy that depends on new players continuously coming to it. The game only seems to work because new peo-

ple keep buying in and joining. The established players at the top seem to earn based on new players and when the payout levels get too high, developers adjust earning potential. So is it a pyramid scheme? Technically it’s not, but it most definitely has some pyramid scheme-like qualities where the game developers have all of the control. Play-to-earn games are emerging as a new take on traditional gaming,may even replace traditional gaming (if some issues

are resolved), and are a fun way to make some extra cash. But, before you decide to invest money into some of these games, make sure you do your research. Not all playto-earn games are scams that take your money and give you nothing in return, but be wary of some that are straight-up pyramid schemes. Invest your money wisely, and don’t forget the main purpose of these games is to have fun, not make money!

MUSIC

The Joe Rogan Podcast and Spotify “RoganGate” and the subsequent conundrums Romina Emtyazi Section Editor

n January 25, Canadian singer and songwriter Neil Young demanded that his music be removed from Spotify unless Joe Rogan’s podcast —The Joe Rogan Experience — would be removed from the platform due to vaccine misinformation. This came in the aftermath of 270 scientific professionals, including 87 medical doctors, signing a letter asking Spotify to take down the podcast as they believed that Rogan’s “false and societally harmful assertions [about vaccines would] damage public trust in scientific research.” Neil Young stated that he is more than willing to lose 60 percent of his worldwide streaming income “in the name of Truth.” Rogan’s podcast is widely viewed as an unreliable source of information on any topic, particularly on matters of public health. Rogan has recklessly hailed Ivermectin – a medicine with no demonstrated antiviral advantages — in the fight against the Covid-19. He has also stated that young and healthy individuals don’t need to get vaccinated, but his defense remained: “If you’re getting vaccine advice from me, is that really my fault?” Eventually, Rogan issued an apology in which he promised to provide better-researched content, and Spotify pledged to add content advisories to episodes regarding Covid. Despite these actions, the controversy continued as new boycotts by people such as Joni Mitchell, Nils Lofgren, India Arie, and podcaster Roxane Gay were announced. Initially, the “me or him” ultimatum seemed to have caused a conundrum for Daniel Ek, Spotify’s co-founder and CEO. He had two options: the first was to enable Rogan to continue spreading medical misinformation and avoid falling out on a $100 million deal between the company and Rogan. The second choice was to restrict all podcasters (not just Rogan) by fact-checking everything they state

Photo courtesy of Variety concerning any topic. Ek has opted for the first one, and The Joe Rogan Experience remains available on Spotify. The decision to continue streaming Rogan’s podcast on the platform can be attributed to the company’s reputation for being “more than just a music streaming service.” In April 2018, the corporation took the company public on the New York Stock Exchange, rather than Stockholm (where it was originally founded), to establish its focus in Manhattan and American culture. This led to a turning point of Spotify rebranding itself as an “audio platform,” with podcasting as one of its main focuses. It has now spent over US$1 billion on podcasts and has so far received a 627 percent return on investment. This new relaunch is what differentiates Spotify from other audio streaming networks. It brings a different style of music, one that our generation deems as normal: instead of an album from a favourite musician every two or three years, there is fresh content at least once a week. Such consistency of production strengthens customer loyalty — and hence sub-

scribers — considerably more than any single artist. This may explain why Spotify is hesitant to get rid of Rogan, or even to temper in some of his more radical views. Rogan is the company’s big acquisition and he brings in an estimated 11 million listeners to the platform for every episode. Even though Spotify’s decision to keep Rogan was strictly due to their appeal to profit, the question that remains is: what is the endgame? Young initially stated that he plans to move his music to Amazon Music. This could be seen as hypocritical and ironic by some people who criticize Amazon for mistreating employees. The other option would be YouTube, which is “a major conduit of fake news” according to a global coalition of fact-checking organizations who launched a study into the platform in early 2022. Why aren’t artists withdrawing their content from Apple, Amazon, and YouTube? Or why isn’t anyone vocal about Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s viciously anti-vax episodes “Clinical Trial Nightmare” and “War Against Doctors with Conscience”? In response to this, many

argue that this is not just about Rogan. Rogan is a part of a much bigger finger-pointing spree happening since the beginning of the pandemic — a spooked response to vaccine hesitancy in the US and the general misinformation circulating amongst the public. On the other hand, the supporters of this censorship argue that even though Rogan might not be the main issue in this situation, he is a major “part of it” and is actively contributing to a mass false information campaign. Nevertheless, while Spotify continues to have more paying subscribers than any other audio streaming service with 406 million monthly users and 180 million paying subscribers, its market share has decreased since “RoganGate.” Immediately after Young’s statement, the company’s shares briefly fell as much as 18 percent. According to Ek, this will not be the last of the impact. While he did not expect the influence of the controversy to become apparent this early, he believes that “it’s too early to know what the impact will be,” as more artists might want to pull their content off the platform.

Sports | March 31, 2022 | Graffiti

sports

EQUALITY

Defining a new age of sport The importance of representation. Abigail Shin Editor in Chief

n Beijing 2022, snowboarder Chole Kim defended her Olympic gold on the halfpipe, becoming the first female to achieve this milestone. This arguably makes her the best female halfpipe snowboarder in history. Eileen Gu is an 18-year old skiing phenom who won three medals in Beijing, two of which are gold in freeski halfpipe and the big air competition. She became the first freestyle skier

the 2021 tournament. What do all these athletes have in common, other than being the best of the best in their sports? Beyond being world-class athletes, all these young females have the commonality of having an Asian heritage. I have always had an innate interest in all types of sport. I was a competitive swimmer, but watching the best athletes in the world compete in events like snowboarding, gymnastics, tennis, soccer, F1 racing, and hockey is incredible to watch. For me, seeing a talented athlete is, in the best words, super cool. How far can a person push

few decades have women slowly fought their way towards equality in the sports realm. However, gender equality is only one part of the fight towards diversifying sport. Beyond having equal rights between genders, race and representation among athletes still has a long way to go. This battle is far from over, and as seen in the athletes who have seemingly “broken” the gender and race barriers, despite competing and winning at competitions around the world, many continue to face many struggles due to their race. Suni Lee was the victim of

Photo courtesy of People in history to win three medals at a single Winter Games. In Tokyo 2020, Suni Lee won gold as the all-around champion in gymnastics, and Sky Brown, the youngest professional skateboarder in the world, won bronze at just 13 in the first ever women’s park skateboarding. Maggie Macneil is a world champion and world

their body to achieve greatness? How can a person, also human like me, be so strong? Again, super cool. Yet, in the past few years I have noticed that there has also been an incredible rise in young Asian female athletes making their mark in sport. These young athletes have begun filling in a gap in sport that I never thought to notice that was

Photo courtesy of SkySports a racist attack in November 2021. She was pepper sprayed by people yelling racist slurs, telling Lee to “go back to where [she] came from.” Chole Kim said in interviews after her gold medal win in PyongChang 2018 that “people belittled [her] accomplishments because [she] was Asian. There were messages in [her] DMs telling [her] to

Photo courtesy of Today record holder in swimming; she won a gold medal in the 100 meter butterfly in Tokyo. Naomi Osaka is the first Asian tennis player to hold a No. 1 ranking in the world, and Emma Raduacnu is the reigning US Open champion, just defeating Canadian player Leylah Fernandez during

missing. For decades, professional sports have been dominated by males, and this trend still continues today. All major sport organizations are male only. The NBA, NHL, NFL, F1 circuit, FIFA, MBA and CLF: all male. Only in the past

second home. I began competitive swimming when I was nine years old as a pastime, and over the years, my passion unexpectedly, yet consistently, grew. I progressed from pre-competitive to the High Performance group of my club. I spent countless hours chasing the black line at the bottom of the pool and wore chlorine as my permanent perfume. Swimming was, and continues to be, a large part of my life; however, there were very few athletes I could relate to as a young Asian-Canadian athlete. It has only been in the last few years that I even noticed I didn’t have a face of representation to relate to.

As more and more athletes like Chole Kim, Eileen Gu, Naomi Osaka, Suni Lee, and Emma Raducanu continue to be at the forefront of their sports and add diversity, I feel inspired and proud by their achievements. I feel proud to be Asian, to be represented by many strong female athletes who continue to break stereotypes and

Photo courtesy of Sportsnet go back to China and to stop taking medals away from the white American girls on the team.” She often felt ashamed and hated that she was Asian. As an Asian, I relate to her previous sentiments. For the better part of a decade, the swimming pool was my

boundaries in their field. I feel inspired by their pride for their culture and their efforts to promote their heritage. I hope that these athletes influence more young people to dream big, whether it be sport or not.

Graffiti | March 31, 2022 | Sports

FOOTBALL

Jimmy G and the importance of the championship Banding together to create an environment where discussing sports does not discredit people based on titles won, but rather their impact on the sport. Cole Banville Section Editor

immy Garoppolo currently holds the title for the most Super Bowl rings out of any active quarterback in the NFL. This must mean he is the best QB in the NFL and one of the best the sport has ever produced, right? Absolutely not, but when we evaluate the greatest players of any sport, the number one accolade people reference is how successful their teams were. I disagree with this sentiment. Jimmy G has been a backup his whole career, but he has played on some wildly successful teams. When we debate the greatest NFL players of all time the first name which elevates above the rest is Tom Brady. I am under the belief Brady is by far the greatest football player of all time. He has the perfect mixture of stats, team success and memorable moments to be not only the most iconic, but also the best player of the history of the sport.

Where can we use this for other sports? Bill Russell has achieved the most championships of any player in NBA history and was the anchor of all the teams he was ever a contributor for. He won all 11 of his titles with the Boston Celtics and had plenty of iconic moments, which includes setting multiple records in the NBA finals. Not only that, but he shattered racial barriers in the NBA and is one of the most accomplished, beloved, and iconic players of all time. Yet, Micheal Jordan is readily considered the greatest player ever. Why is this? What does Jordan have that Bill Russell does not? Jordan scored a lot of points and played in a more modern era. Russell was the most incredible defender the NBA world has ever witnessed, but people do not watch games for good defense. MJ’s fadeaway captivated the world and globally popularized the sport. The people who have the discussions are those who create the dialogue. As much as Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain hold nearly every record basketball has to offer, they

played over 50 years ago. Eventually, people stopped talking about them. What does this mean for MJ? Will people one day forget about Jordan and praise LeBron James as the near undisputed goat? When evaluating greatness, team sports make it difficult to tell who made the team great. What about single person events? Who is the greatest fighter or boxer ever? Muhammad Ali? Mike Tyson? Floyd Mayweather? This is where this subject appears to be more clear cut, however it can often be even more strenuating. All of it is relative to the era and no one can really decide on one. Fighting is subjective; who won the most matches? Well, what if their competition was not as proficient as modern eras? Something more comparable is quantifiable sports like swimming. Even in sports like sprinting, the era is still important. Would Jesse Owen beat Usain Bolt’s record if he had modern advantages like better shoes and higher level of training? No one would argue against Micheal Phelps being the greatest, but why is this? He won basical-

ly every race imaginable and no one ever did it like him. Does this mean he is the greatest athlete of all time? NO! If you asked someone that question they might laugh at you unless they truly love and appreciate swimming. He never revolutionized swimming, he just won a lot. If you want someone who won a lot and revolutionized the game you have to talk about Serena Williams. She completely changed the women’s tennis scene, and with her mighty serve, she completely eradicated the older style of player. Unfortunately, this does not get us any closer to the “answer”, because everything is relative to when they played. Where does this leave us and Jimmy G? As a sports community, we need to band together and create an environment to discuss sports without simply discrediting people based on their titles won, but rather their impact to the sport. The question of greatness is multifaceted. However, this still leaves Jimmy G as the best QB in the league.

NFL

Super Bowl 2022 A detailed overview of 2022’s most anticipated sports event and a honorable NT alumni. Janna Kazerani Cole Banville Section Editors

his year at the 2022 Super Bowl, the Los Angeles Rams played an intense and spirited game against the Cincinnati Bengals, beating them with a close score of 23-20. The game was tantalizing and filled with unexpected twists and turns, leaving everyone at home in a state of flux and excitement. The beloved and somewhat controversial wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr played his first Super Bowl game, and he started it off with a bang, scoring the first touchdown of the game. Unfortunately, shortly after he was forced to exit the game due to a non-contact knee injury. After this injury, things started going downhill for the Rams, and the Bengals made a strong comeback with Joe Burrow’s 75 yard touchdown pass to Tee Higgings. Matthew Stafford played quarterback for the LA Rams and it was great to see him finally succeed through all the strife of his career. He was the number one pick in 2009 by the pathetic Detroit Lions, but the team was terrible and he was recently traded to LA. This was a wonderful sight, seeing as he’s one of the best

quarterbacks in the NFL, but was trapped on a terrible team and a useless franchise. Without a doubt the play of the game for the Rams was the last touchdown by Cooper Kupp. It was a baffling choice to have their third string cornerback on the field for the most important possession of the game; this choice was costly for the Bengals as Kupp and Stafford sealed the game. A lot of commotion has been made about defensive tackle Aaron Donald’s potential retirement. Rodney Harrison, former football player, stated that Donald told him “that if he wins the Super Bowl, there’s a strong possibility he could walk away from the game and retire.” Donald is 30 years old and has already played 8 seasons in the NFL, been named All-Pro 7 times, and named defensive player of the year 3 times. Now that the Rams have officially won, Donald has to make his decision on whether he’s retiring or not. He recently said though, “[w]e built the super team, we can bring the super team back. Why not run it back? We could be world champs again,” so what will his final choice be? Ultimately though, the NFL team rosters will look very different next year with all the trades, retirements and drafts that will take place from now until the next Super Bowl. Along with the Ram’s victory, North Toronto also had its

own mini victory. LA Rams defensive tackle Michael Hoecht actually played football at NT before he moved to the US to continue his career; this marks the first time that an NT student has made it to the Super Bowl. Throughout the entire game, the infamous Super Bowl commercials were presented, and this year there was a unique collection of them. Every year people flock to the ads and oftentimes do not even follow football or even know the rules of the game. This includes Grade 11 student Alexandra Dabdoub who said “I watch the Super Bowl just for the commercials.” Fans were overjoyed with the long awaited return of fan favorite commercials such as Jim Carey’s role reprisal of “The Cable Guy” in the Verizon advertisement, the Uber Eats commercial starring Jennifer Coolidge, Trevor Noah, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Nicholas Braun, Zendaya for Squarespace, Paul Rudd and Seth Rogan for Lays, Arnold Schwarznegger and Salma Hayek for BMW, and Kyle Lowry for BitBuy. Halfway through the game, the much anticipated Pepsi Halftime Show™ began. This year, the world of football finally embraced hip hop and a culture many of it’s players and fans are immersed in, airing a performance from Dr. Dre, Snoop Dog, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J Blige,

Eminem, and the surprise guests Anderson Paak and 50 Cent. With a beautiful set, these artists worked together to provide such a connected performance. Starting with the renowned song, “The Next Episode” by Snoop Dog and Dre, Kendrick Lamar continued in performing “M.A.A.D. City” and “Alright,” and Eminem performing “Lose Yourself.” After Eminem’s performance, which paid homage to his movie “8 Mile” which encourages self-determination, he took a knee and held his head in his hand to pay tribute to Colin Kaepernick, the former quarterback who knelt during the national anthem in 2016 as protest against police brutality and racial injustice. The show concluded with the iconic piano of Dr. Dre’s “Still Dre” which focused on the line “still not loving the police.” The performance was a combination of nostalgia, elation, and even protest for all the viewers and fans. The Super Bowl 2022 was a massive success and every aspect appealed to so many different viewers across the globe. This was one of the best Super Bowls in years and hopefully, the 2023 Super Bowl will be just as entertaining and memorable, but with all the changes that will be made until then, who knows what the future holds for the NFL.

Sports | March 31, 2022 | Graffiti

PREMIER LEAGUE

All the Premier League action so far A recap and predictions of the world’s top soccer league. Romina Emtyazi Section Editor

e’ve now passed more than halfway through the season of the world’s top soccer league. With fans returning to stadiums, the games have become even more enjoyable and thrilling to watch. Undoubtedly, this season was filled with ups and downs and surprising turnouts, which is what makes this competition so great. That, plus N’Golo Kante’s smile. Teams are in an intense fight over gaining Champions League (UCL) spots for next year. Most soccer fans believed the title race to be over, with Man City rising as the champions of the league for the second consecutive year. But Liverpool has so far challenged that notion and is closing in on Man City — keeping the title race alive. Man City dropped points recently as they drew against Southampton and, to everyone’s surprise, were beaten at home by none other than Tottenham. This opened the door for Liverpool, who have been in superb form since the beginning of the season. Liverpool and Manchester City seem to have booked their slots already, and despite Chelsea’s recent slips, they are also likely to remain at the top. Jurgen Klopp has been achieving wonders and created a team that might be able to tame Man City this year. Adding Luis Díaz — the man who Liverpool fans have now dubbed as the new Luis Suárez — to their team during the transfer window was a very smart move as he has had a heated debut in the Premier League. Díaz is not the only player who has drawn comparisons to Suárez; Diogo Jota

has a perfect attitude to pressing and that unorthodox ability to get a shot away inside the penalty area even under pressure. As much as it pains me to say this, Liverpool has some of the most important attributes that Man United severely lacks: determination, leadership, cohesion, and cooperation. As for Man City, Pep Guardiola seems to have built a defensive line that is tough to get around. While no one can understand the point of the £100 million Grealish summer transfer when he’s being benched and makes limited to no contributions to the team, Pep’s favourite 4-3-3 defensive formation is taking the team to high places, specifically to UCL finals as winners after last year’s disappointment. The squad might not have the best (or many) supporters, nor any historical prestige, but they seem invincible. With respect to the rivals of the two mentioned teams, Man United is once again holding its breath to gain 4th position on the table. For a supporter of the team since childhood who likes to pride herself on remaining loyal to them, even after their frequent flops in recent years, their performance this season has been nothing short of ridiculous. While bringing in a new manager has been beneficial, the club missed a chance at redemption by not signing any midfield or defensive players during the January transfer window. At times, the defence and midfield are voids, with 6 forwards playing in the front. Not to mention how they shipped off one of their best strikers, Martial, to Seville in La Liga. However, the club has argued that it intends to downsize the squad before making their next major acquisition in the summer transfer window. In addition to a midfielder (West Ham’s Declan Rice seems

to be the best option), a move for a striker is also necessary, seeing as Martial’s on loan, Cavani’s likely to leave, and Ronaldo’s farewell seems inevitable unless a miracle happens. While the club’s fate is in limbo, concrete decisions need to be made in order to reform the team, and benching Maguire might be a start. The only positive aspect to this season’s performance is how Jadon Sancho and Anthony Elanga are progressing extremely well and turning into two of the best youngsters in the league. As for the London Blues, Man United supporters like to think that Michael Carrick broke Chelsea’s triumphant run after the draw between the two teams in November. Since then, Chelsea has had a series of losses, draws, and hard-to-get wins. But as the team now gets to add a world title to their trophy cabinet, perhaps it can bring back their tenacity and harmony, visible during their UCL run last year. Despite having a lazy start to the season, their red rivals, Arsenal, are closing in on the top four after a last-minute win against Wolves. Now that the Arteta-Aubameyang saga is over, perhaps the team can focus on its aim of finally gaining a UCL spot after so long. On the rise towards top 4 are West Ham and Wolves — both are underrated and don’t get enough credit for their great forms this season. When the two sides faced one another, the Hammers dominated the game, and the victory was way more convincing than the score shows. Moving to the midlands, this season has been filled with bad luck for Leicester City. After their performance last year and their FA cup win, many thought that they would be able to make it at least to the top 6 this time around. But they haven’t kept a clean sheet in about

a year, simply because they are too soft, which is ironic for a team that has the passionate, and sometimes furious, Jamie Vardy as a striker. They have to toughen up. In terms of historical glory, to say that Everton, one of the most historic clubs in England, is having a bad run would be an understatement. The team is now millimetres away from the relegation zone after consecutive losses and draws with their former manager. Currently, Chelsea legend Frank Lampard, who wasn’t credited well enough with his management of Chelsea last season, has taken on the role. Looking for redemption after being grossly mistreated in Manchester, Man United’s outcast Donny Van de Beek has been loaned to Everton. Dele Alli also joined, looking to revive his golden days by invoking hard work and tenacity. Speaking of former Premier League players taking on managerial roles, Aston Villa seems to have escaped the claws of relegation after bringing in former Liverpool star, Steven Gerrad and signing Coutinho, who has so far carried the team on his back. Yet the team continues to have problems with inconsistencies in games. Lastly, Newcastle United has moved away from the relegation zone after they spent the big bucks of their new owners during the transfer window. Unlike Leeds United, Norwich City, Watford, and Burnley, Newcastle will likely stay in the league next season, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the squad at the top of the league in the next 5 years. Ultimately, the fate of the league will be down to the teams and players themselves. And there’s absolutely no doubt that the fight for top positions this season is way more fierce and heated than last year’s.

BASKETBALL

How to play NBA 2K (for pros) Alessia DeFoa Contributor

s NBA 2K easier than it’s made out to be? Does pressing random buttons on the controller work? I say absolutely. According to Redbull.com, some tips they have to improve your skills and assist you to “master the game” include: being able to shoot (just press the square and eventually it will shoot), knowing the court (isn’t it just a bunch of lines?), and finally, fiercely defending (if you press the buttons fast enough you can simply steal the ball and run away!). As a new legend in this

game; here are a few of my own top tips to beat even the best 2K players. Tip number 1: Press random buttons. If you’re ever stuck in a tough spot, the worst thing you can do by moving haphazardly is foul your opponent! Secondly, switch your players around. The game gets increasingly hard when you think you’re Lebron, but have Russell Westbrook selected, who is across the court bouncing around for no reason. By switching around players, you can puzzle your opponent. And, if you ever get lost, pressing that X button will bring you back into the centre of the game. Another top tip is knowing what the red flashing lights around the inside of the court mean. Before declaring myself the best 2K player ever,

I had to learn the hard way that when the red lines appear, it is not encouragement to shoot, but rather a warning to run outside of the flashing area. Is there a reason for this? I have no idea, but it sounds like a waste of time to me. To impress any experienced 2K players, make sure to move both joysticks around. Somehow this makes you do fancy tricks and as I have determined from first hand experience, will leave your competition yelling “money!” (if you want to incorporate some basketball lingo into your game, say “can’t guard me!” when doing this). Next, remember in tough situations that defence is simpler than it seems. If you use tip #2, have the correct player selected, and constantly run

into whichever player has the ball, it is significantly more difficult for baskets to be scored. By doing this, you’re sure to seem to know exactly what you’re doing. Fake it until you make it! Arguably the most effortless piece of advice I have is to take note of what more experienced 2K players do during games. My wonderful tips as well as some harmless imitation of other players is a recipe for success. Applying what you see others doing will help you find a wider range of skills to really master the game. At this point, you’ve heard all of my best tips and tricks to join me in being a 2K guru; I hope you use these wisely and defeat anyone who claims that the game is difficult. I believe in you!

Graffiti | March 31, 2022 | Sports

BASKETBALL

Fred Vanvleet’s rise to stardom An overview of his successes and personal achievements.

Janna Kazerani Section Editor

23, Fred Vanvleet, point guard and shooting guard for the Toronto Raptors has finally and deservingly received the AllStar title that has been a long time coming. Vanvleet started his basketball career in 2016, going undrafted in the NBA Draft, signing with the Raptors. He began in the G League, playing with the Raptors 905, and has made his way to the top, now carrying a 40.8 FG% while being an essential player for the Toronto Raptors. He said, “it’s been an unbelievable journey to get here, things that I’ve been through, and just the challenges to get to where I am today,” and he has always worked hard and “bet on himself.” He has already won an NBA championship and beat the single-game scoring record in Raptors history with 54 points scored against the Orlando Magic - this also being the most points scored in a game by an undrafted player. He’s the third player in NBA history to make 11+ threes in a game on 75%+ shooting from outside the arc, joining Steph Curry and Zach Lavine, and breaking the record for most threes made by an undrafted player. He also has the largest contract for an undrafted player in NBA history, and he had a Finals MVP vote from ESPN analyst Hubie Brown. Now, he is just the fifth undrafted player in NBA history to have earned All-Star status. Vanvleet was picked from the reserve players, joining Team Lebron, and he played alongside Demar DeRozan, Giannis Antetetkounmpo, Steph Curry, Nikola Jokic, Jimmy Butler, Luka Doncic, and more. Not only has he had his own personal successes, but those around him never failed to recog-

Photo by Jasmine Lem nize him as the substantial player that he is. The Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donnovan said, “I’ve always had a lot of respect for [Fred] as a player,” and the Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said “[Fred’s] just so under-appreciated, to me, by the league. I think he’s maybe the most underrated player in the game.” Fred Vanvleet has received so much support from his team and members of the league. Even his old teammate Kawhi Leonard commented on Fred’s ascent to stardom, saying

“he’s just more aggressive on the floor. He always had a game, going both ways, shooting the ball [in] both directions.” In addition to his first time appearance in the All-Star game, Fred committed to participate in the three-point contest during NBA All-Star Weekend, also for the first time in his career. This season, he has shot 39.6% from three, this being one of the best years of his career. He competed against other incredible shooters such as Desmond Bane, Luke Kennard, Zach

Lavine, CJ McCollum, Patty Mills, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Trae Young. On top of all his successes, he also recently became engaged to the mother of his two children. Fred Vanvleet never ceases to amaze his team, the Raptors’ fans, and the entire league, and at just 27 years old, he will unquestionably continue to flourish and achieve so much in his life, for himself, and those around him. The Toronto Raptors are very lucky to have a player like Fred on their team.

TENNIS

Can we really trust the media? An analysis of the Djokovic controversy The media’s role in the spread of misinformation. Lola Urosevic Contributor

o much of our daily lives are consumed by our screens. We spend hours mindlessly scrolling through whatever gets recommended to us. Through the years, the access to news has become easier and easier. We have the world at

our fingertips. However, do social media’s benefits outweigh the negative effects it has? A recent situation involving Novak Djokovic, the #1 tennis player in the world, has been subject to a slew of misinformation. He was recently deported from Australia, and was unable to play in the grand slam tournament, allegedly for his vaccination status and medical exemption paperwork.

Thousands of articles were written pertaining to this, however, many had goals of attention and viewership rather than hard facts. This situation brought to light how the media operates. Despite what news outlets are saying, Djokovic is not anti-vax, and the decision to deport him was proven to not even be based on his vaccination status. Djokovic has not once supported the anti-vax movement, di-

rectly telling the BBC, “I was never against vaccines.” It’s not that he is against vaccines, but rather is concerned with the mandates around the pandemic. People against the movement are seeing this false information and giving him names like “Novax” and “Djocovid” continued on the next page...

Sports | March 31, 2022 | Graffiti This is not the only time where the news has manipulated facts to cause attention. For example, there was recently an interview with Daniel Craig, the beloved James Bond actor. The headline reads, “Daniel Craig says Bond shouldn’t be played by a woman.” Now, someone just scrolling through social media might read this and think that Craig is sexist and doesn’t think a woman deserves this role. However, the opposite is actually true. The article explains how he said that rather than replacing James Bond, there should be better roles for women in the series. This split between headline and content causes people to gain warped opinions without delving into the actual article and what it’s really saying. These fake news and misleading headlines that elicit negative views cause people to click on them, and clicking means money. We like bad news. Doom scrolling is when people actively look for bad news and read it, even if it’s harmful to us. We do it often. We will remember drama more than we remember wholesome reporting. In the first world we deal with a lot of misinformation. Nearly everything we are exposed to is designed to get us to click, to see ads, or to get us angry which will bring more traction to that article or post. People tend to read the headlines only and get influenced without getting the whole picture. So many people don’t form their own opinions anymore. They watch the news and without looking deeper, decide that what was

just told to them must be the right thing to think. Another example is the trucker convoy. Look it up, and see how many different opinions and views you can find with just a few articles. Watch the news, look at their wording. Pay close attention to the videos, and how they focus on only what lets their story be the “truth”. The fact of the matter is, stories that make money are misleading and biased, and they get people arguing. Taking sides garners more attention. So many people get angry over the news, and start being verbally aggressive towards anyone that won’t agree with them. This swell of misinformation surrounding a great tennis player caused a wave of drama, making people believe that Djokovic was deported solely based on him not being vaccinated. The reality is though, that the deportation seems to be political. First off, judge Anthony Kelly had told the government to let Djokovic stay in Australia. Despite this ruling, Alex Hawke, the immigration minister of Australia deported him anyway. After a judge had decided that Djokovic should remain in the country, it seemed strange that he would get deported anyway. Hawke himself stated that the errors found within Djokovic’s papers were irrelevant. He said that they were not considered important in his decision to deport Djokovic. He instead chose to deport him on the basis that being in the country could spark protests. He claimed that he is a threat to public health and that he would

cause an anti-vax sentiment. Anti-vax protests could happen either way, as many could get upset by the decision to deport Djokovic. This was blatantly ignoring laws and a judge’s own ruling that he could stay in the country. Another player, Renata Voracova, got deported as well. However, the media had not covered this like they did with Djokovic. His status caused a commotion. This is unfortunate in the sense that the same thing has happened to many people trying to enter the country. They spent money getting there only to be rejected. A benefit from this media coverage was showing issues within the system. Djokovic became a clear display for what really happens at the borders. More players had entered the country with the same documentation and were allowed to play. The Globe and Mail stated, “At least three other participants in the Australian Open with the same medical exemption as Novak Djokovic are already in the country with more potentially arriving over the next week.” This was confirmed by Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews, who stated that the Australian Border Force is assessing two others who entered Australia with the same exemption. People kept saying that he was getting special treatment because of being the #1 player. If others still entered the country the same way, the only special treatment he received was being deported solely for fear of anti-vax protests. Even if there was a problem with Djokovic’s medical exemption, it’s a whole other issue with

35 why they let him travel to Australia in the first place. As New South Wales Senator Kristina Keneally puts it, “Mr Morrison handballs Australian Border Force officers the job of assessing vaccination status at the border, instead of assessing much earlier in the visa application process.” There is an inherent problem with this. When border officers very quickly go through documentation, they cannot check it thoroughly enough. It means anyone can spend a big sum of money, spend time getting documentation and everything in order for travelling, then get rejected after arriving in the country. There is no logic to this. If they were to decline someone’s entry to the country, it should be done before they even get on a plane. Overall, the heavy influence of the media is more clear than ever, and it’s evident how it’s developed into a landscape of manipulation where clicks are valued more over honest reporting. Everyone needs to look deeper into whatever you read or hear about; look at multiple sources and read past the headlines. People pay for higher placement on Google pages. Go to the “forbidden” 2nd page of Google. Look at views from other countries, other languages even. Look for objective over opinion. Read the facts, and come to your own conclusion about what’s given to you. Above all else, build your own opinions, don’t let a news channel make your thoughts for you.

Photo courtesy of News18

Graffiti | March 31, 2022 | Humour & Games

humour & games SATIRE

The Canadian government: a timeline Look back at our federal government through headlines and illustrations.

February 6, 2020

Sophie Block Section Editor Ruby Steinberg Contributor

Source: CBC

hink you know what’s been going on in Canadian politics? Think again! Take a look at these major Canadian headlines over the past few years, and our government’s response.

Illustrations by Baran Forootan

January 18, 2021

October 2021

Source: blogTO

November, 2021

Source: blogTO

January 5, 2022

Source: Global News

Source: TVO

January 16, 2022 February 1, 2022

Source: CBC

Source: blogTO

Humour & Games | March 31, 2022 | Graffiti ADVICE

Post Valentine’s Day advice column 4 steps for the ones who spent Valentines Day single.

Lola Urosevic Contributor

o, it’s after Valentine’s Day. Maybe you were one of the lucky ones who got hit with cupid’s arrow and spent the day with a special someone. Or instead, maybe you were like most of us; getting hit in the head with the crushing reality that you spent the International Day of Love sitting in your bedroom playing video games. If you fit in the second camp, I’m here to help you out. Welcome to the step-bystep guide for rocking loneliness; Single as a Pringle With No Need to Mingle. Step 1

Set absolutely no expectations. Relationships are hard, and you need to present yourself

as the best possible. When you’re alone, who cares!? Just be you. Do you eat pineapple on pizza? Do you wear socks with sandals? Do you eat Kit-Kats without breaking them? Nobody can judge you now. Step 2

Chocolate is your friend. Black Friday has nothing on February 15th, and the chocolate sales are an opportunity of which you need to take advantage. Get those fancy boxes and give them to yourself because you’re the most important person in the world. If you don’t like chocolate (or are unfortunately allergic), then skip this step and go to step 3. Step 3

Have some fun. Go shopping and get that awesome shirt you’ve always wanted. If you

skipped the previous step, treat yourself to your favourite snack (Unfortunately, it’ll probably be regularly priced). Play video games for 6 hours straight because you’re a dedicated human being with a passion for something. Dance like nobody’s watching, because they aren’t. We’ve already been over that, you’re all alone. Step 4

Judge everybody who is in a relationship. This is customary and is the final piece to a perfect post-Valentine’s Day experience. I recommend internal judgement, however, if you decide to expand on this and judge verbally, that’s on you. With these 4 easy steps, you’ll forget about crushing loneliness and enjoy your single life!

TRIVIA

How much do you know about what’s going on in the world? How well do you follow the news? What did you learn from Graffiti? Take this quiz to find out!

Sophie Block Section Editor Level: Easy Where were the 2022 Olympics held? A. Beijing, China B. Bangkok, Thailand C. Rio, Brazil D. Tokyo, Japan How many seasons of Euphoria have aired? A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 4 Who announced his retirement from the NFL this February? A. Aaron Rodgers B. Aaron Donald C. Josh Allen D. Tom Brady Who won the Super Bowl? A. Los Angeles Rams B. New England Patriots C. Cincinnati Bengals D. The halftime show Level: Medium What act has Prime Minister Justin Trudeau enacted? A. War Time Measures Act B. Emergencies Act C. COVID-19 Fast-Track Powers Act D. The Anti-Freedom Act Who owns Instagram? A. Facebook B. Google C. Metaverse D. Apple What were the truckers, who were protesting in Ottawa, allegedly against? A. Racism B. Vaccine mandates C. COVID-19 hospitalizations D. Donald Trump Approximately what percentage of Ontarians are vaccinated against COVID-19? A. 75% B. 80% C. 95% D. 90%

Illustration by Charlotte Shin

continued on the next page..

38 Which artist was the first to pull their music from Spotify in protest of Joe Rogan’s podcast? A. Joni Mitchell B. Neil Diamond C. Neil Young D. Adele Level: Hard Is Ukraine a part of NATO? A. Yes B. No Will enrichment courses run next year at NT? A. Yes B. No C. Depends Is Erin O’Toole the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada? A. Yes B. No Results No questions wrong: Great job! You’re up to date on current events. 1-3 questions wrong: Almost there! Read over Graffiti one more time to make sure you perfect your knowledge . 4-7 wrong: Go re-read Graffiti, now! Good effort, though. Answers are at the bottom of page 39.

Graffiti | March 31, 2022 | Humour & Games

SATIRE

Guy who is wearing shorts in the dead of winter Some speculation about these supernatural beings. Aveen Abdoli-Eramaki Contributor

e’ve all had that one person in our lives who wears shorts in the freezing winter. And let’s face it, we’ve all either been the person to ask “aren’t you cold?” or the person to silently judge them. However, those who ask usually have an anticipated answer in their mind, one that may seem obvious since you’re standing there shaking your shoes off, but “Nah man, it’s not even that cold’’ is the response that catches everyone off guard. It sparks arguments between many friends and families all across Canada. Even with experiencing it second hand in my household, I’ve never understood these types of people, and I’m certain I never will. It seems as though individuals who do this lack a functioning nervous system, like they are po-

lar bears in disguise. But, I’ve got three theories. Firstly, I’m led to believe people who wear shorts in the winter never check the weather. They are so caught up in work, friends, family, or whatever it may be, that they completely forget seasons and climates are significant. And, once you approach them in a questioning manner, they are quick to act like they are on top of things because they really are oblivious to that aspect of the world. It sounds a bit extreme, I’m sure, especially considering that anyone with a functioning window can look out and know this isn’t Spain with it’s sunny winters. Even if they did check the weather, they certainly didn’t know how to dress for it. This is seen commonly in individuals with little fashion sense. They’re the type of people to show up to a super hype party in sweats or a flannel shirt. No offence, but you’re a walking offence. Furthermore, I strongly

believe the only reason they aren’t cold is that their legs are numb. To the shorts-in-winter kids who are reading this and disagreeing, do you really want to tell me you’re not cold when your legs are redder than Rudolph’s nose is when he’s guiding Santa through the dark sky? Mmm, try again. For individuals who aren’t sure if they know someone like this, I’m here to help. This person is either your brother, your friend, a gym teacher, or another crazy, live-for-the-thrill risk-taker in your life. They make it seem like a breeze, like walking in the Bahamas but with ice all around you. Realistically, if humans had the ability to hold powers, and we were recruiting people, undoubtedly they would be ideal candidates. Forget NASA astronauts and gym bros, we know for a fact that guys who wear shorts in the dead of winter are the ones to watch out for.

FOOD

TimBeibs: pay more for less! Daisy Kaiser Contributor

o you want to pay more for less? Then TimBiebs are for you! In this new, limited-time deal from Tim Hortons, you can get reused, barely altered, regular Timbits for more than ever before. You would be crazy to miss this deal! On November 10, 2021, Tim Hortons announced that they were collaborating with Justin Bieber to come out with three new Timbit flavours, and even more, TimBiebs merchandise! The excitement was palpable, especially for someone who tends to make more-thannormal Timbits purchases on a daily basis. The news was everywhere, TikTok, Instagram, gossip between friends, you know, all the credible news sources. The countdown was on. On Monday, November 29, I was first in line at 7:00 am to get the all-new, never-seen-before Timbits. They were going to be a gamechanger for early morning snacks, the perfect sweet treat… except they weren’t. These TimBiebs are an old book wrapped in a new cover, but the new cover costs you twice as much. The outside decorations might be a little bit crunchier and sweeter, but the inside is identical to the originals. And the originals

had better frosting. Nobody has ever wanted sour cream garnished Timbits, and I guarantee nobody wants them now. Almost immediately, the reaction was underwhelming, nobody was impressed. But don’t take my word for it… Grade 12 student Sian Huang admitted that “the Tim Beibs [sic] were surprisingly underwhelming and tasted like normal Timbits that were slightly sweeter. The birthday cake waffle Tim Beib was my least favourite and ruined my love for the normal birthday cake Timbits.” NT student Mikayla Toplis agrees with her, sharing that “they were definitely disappointing and overall just tasted like Timbits coated in sugar.” So, not only have the TimBeibs been a disaster on their own, but they are now actively wrecking the reputation of the original Timbits. My question is, who thought it was a good idea to cram birthday cake and waffle into one Timbit? The same goes for sour cream chocolate chip, it’s not a 3-in-1 shampoo, nobody needs all the flavours in one ball of dough. If it was Justin Beiber’s idea, maybe I will give him some leeway, with him being a singer who presumably knows nothing about baking, but if Tims did this on their own, we have all seen much better work. The only remotely successful part of this marketing charade was the merchandise. I will admit that it was a smart move by Tims to

Photo by Daisy Kaiser team up with Justin Beiber, as many customers bought the products solely because his name was attached to them. NT student Amanda Wilson says that she “enjoyed the new Tim Hortons collaboration with Justin Beiber. [She believes] that it is a smart product launch as it strongly plays with Tim Horton’s audience with JB being Canadian.” While I was not overly impressed with Justin Beiber hats, tote bags, and fanny packs, people seemed to be lining up to buy them. Whether they wanted to buy

them as a joke, for the novelty of it, or because they genuinely liked them, purchases were made, so the (inexperienced) accountant in me would consider that a success. However, if the most successful part of a restaurant’s marketing campaign is the non-food items, that restaurant should think twice about the whole operation. So when it comes to TimBeibs, I would say “Baby, baby, baby, no.” Stick to the original, your tastebuds and wallet will thank you.

Humour & Games | March 31, 2022 | Graffiti

Games

Arranged by Benjamin Boyd

Once you solve each puzzle, take the numbers that are in each circle and convert them into letters (1=A, 2=B, 3=C etc.). Once you have done this, unscramble the letters and place them in the blanks below to uncover the secret message.

_ _ _ _._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Sudoku

KenKen

Alphametic Hip! Hip! Array!

In this addition problem, each digit has been replaced with the same letter everywhere it appears. None of the three numbers starts with zero. Can you find the unique solution?

Spymaster

Place a number in each empty cell of this array so that the numbers in the top and middle cells in each column sum to the numbers in the bottom cells. Also, in each row, the numbers in the first two cells sum to the number in the third cell; the second and third sum to the fourth; and the third and fourth sum to the fifth.

Deduce a secret number made of four different digits 1 to 9. The chart shows four guesses at the number and a score for each guess using circles. Any digit that appears in the secret number in the same position as in the guess is scored with a black circle. Any digit that appears in the secret number in a different position than in the guess is scored with a white circle. It’s up to you to determine which digits are indicated by the marbles. Can you figure out the four-digit number?

Trivia Answers: A B D A B C B C B B B B

Graffiti | March 31, 2022 | Humour & Games

e c p o o s r o H s Scorpio – October 23 to November 21 Scorpio, now is your time! Go on an escapade of comedy and unleash the tomfoolery. Go on 50 first dates with someone who has daily amnesia, win back your father’s company by completing all of high school in 2 months. Recreate a classic adventure by going to jail and getting your freedom back by winning a football game. Be yourself and be exuberant this month. I know you have it in you! Capricorn – December 22 to January 19 Capricorn let me tell you something. Your hubris is overwhelming those around you. This attitude is agitating those around you and this is a recipe for disaster. This confidence you have in yourself is not unwarranted. My suggestion is to expand your repertoire and stop just being a producer. Become the star of the show. Once you work with them you will fulfill your true potential and reach your dreams. Pisces – February 19 to March 21 Pisces! Hey! I’d give you your horoscope but the Taurus teller and Virgo teller are squabbling over the crystal ball again. Lucky for me, astrology is mostly bogus. You’re incredibly sympathetic, you know that? Thanks for understanding. You’ve been taking it easy for a bit now, but I can tell you’ve been avoiding responsibility. It’s easy to put off scary things, but sometimes ripping off the bandage can lead to greater closure! Your future self will thank you! Taurus – April 20 to May 21 Taurus, I am seeing the future and it… Sorry, one second someone is knocking on the door to the crystal ball room. Hello Virgo? I am attempting to discern the Taurus’ future, please halt and in the interim there are copious pieces of literature in the waiting room. Look, I just want to give the reader a sense of grandiosity when they read these and immerse them in the writing. Virgo has to use the room, so I will keep it quick. Your life will be wonderful and your relationship with a certain Virgo will continue to blossom. Keep doing what you are doing and you will both be amazing. Cancer – June 21 to July 22 You’re protective, Cancer. You’d fight the world if you had to (and you’ve had to). But sometimes your love is so strong and overflowing that it may burst a dam. It’s important to support the people you care about, but it’s also important to listen to them. Present your good ideas and listen to other ones as well, that’s all I ask of you. Hold on I think I hear something. Oh my. THE DAM BURST. CANCER WHAT DID YOU DO? THE TOWN IS GOING TO FLOOD. Virgo – August 23 to September 22 Virgo, as much as I would love to tell you what this month brings you, the crystal ball room is currently occupied by the Taurus teller. Let me see if they are almost done. Hello?! I need to use the room right now or else Virgo will not know their horoscope this month. You always take forever and it has been really getting on my nerves. I get that you want to get them immersed, but the Virgos are just as important. Thank you for wrapping it up quickly, I appreciate it. Virgo, your relationship with Taurus may be strenuous and they may be difficult sometimes, but you two are always better together.

Arranged by Cole Banville and Sarisha Panday Illustrations by Ava Ireland Sagittarius – November 22 to December 21 Sagittarius, I come bearing news from the oracle. Your life is changing exponentially and this will create a new version of you. Imagine a sandwich, you have some ingredients in you right now, you just need the bread to make it work. It will take someone to detect it within you and that person is me. It may be a strain on your physical and emotional health, but this change will be monumental. I know it’s a big city, but I know you can navigate it. Aquarius – January 20 to February 18 Look Aquarius, after that recent head injury, things have been looking weary. You don’t remember the injury, exactly, but everything will be okay. As the weariness of your injury begins to fade, you will find clarity in those close to you. Seek guidance and do not let yourself push others away because of your own insecurities. Continue on your rehabilitation journey, no matter how monotonous. Always keep pushing. Aries – March 21 to April 20 Hey Aries! You got a minute? I know you to be a passionate and confident person… but you seem to have lost your spark lately. And well… is it just me or have your teeth become sharper and your eyes more piercing? Oh my, you’re totally right, I shouldn’t be commenting on your body. So sorry. I think it’s important that you get your spark back. So take care of yourself, try to relax, lean on others! And uh… maybe don’t unhinge your jaw and let out a blood curdling scream. I think there are better ways to blow off steam. Gemini – May 21 to June 21 Gemini! I know you might get called two faced often, but this time it might be right. Hear me out! I don’t mean you’re a backstabber or anything, just that I think I saw someone exactly like you breaking into a home last night. It might have something to do with the ray of green energy that evil scientist shot at our town. My point is, you might be splitting yourself between two worlds at the moment, and that sort of thing can weigh you down. Either phase out one of them, or learn how to make them work in harmony. Leo – July 23 to August 22 I know you’re all about theater, Leo. Even if you’re not… into theater you still like dramatics. And I respect you for that! But life isn’t always a stage. And performances can be exhausting. Make sure you know who you are beyond what you present to others, and remember your worth as your own person. A one-person show is only fun to watch when the main actor is enjoying it just as much. Just don’t… do a repeat of that weird experimental dance performance you did last time. Libra – September 23 to October 22 For you, life is all about balance. But I fear things are about to get really unbalanced. Have you ever been on stilts before? No? Ok well, it’s a lot like learning how to walk. You know what to do and can feel yourself trying to do it, but you take one step and everything comes toppling down. I don’t know where I’m going with this analogy. The point is, you might have to learn something new and take advice, and that’s okay. Just make sure to give me my stilts back when you’re done. They’re a family heirloom.