Vol 38 issue 22

STUDENTS TAKE ON

UTMSU ELECTIONS

March 26, 2012 Volume 38, Issue 22 www.mediumutm.ca

The business of sustainability JAI SANGHA Bob Willard gave a talk called “The Business Case for Sustainability” in the Council Chambers of the Davis Building last Tuesday.

“There’s a myth that sustainability is going to get in the way of being a successful company. And a lot of the rationale around the business case is to blow that away,” said Willard.

The event was organized by the UTM Green Team, UTMSU’s Ministry of Environment, and the UTM Environmental Alliance. A live video of the talk was broadcast to the University of British Columbia.

“Let’s not call it [sustainability] another ‘goal’; let’s call it a set of enabling strategies that help employees achieve what they are already being asked to achieve sooner and better than they otherwise would be able to. Then they will self-morph into something that is a more sustainable business model,” said Willard, talking about positioning and selling sustainability ideas to businesses.

Business continued on page 3

Where are the voters?

Alternative policy to tuition hikes

UTM Engage wins UTMSU election with about 17% voter turnout

HARLEEN KAUR RANDHAWA

STEFANIE MAROTTA/THE MEDIUM

UTM Engage candidates campaigned near polling booths around campus.

STEFANIE MAROTTA NEWS EDITOR According to the unofficial results, UTM Engage won the election with the lowest voter turnout of the last three years.

About 17% of UTM students cast ballots. Independent candidate Thomas Kristan lost to UTM Engage’s Yasmine Youssef for the position of VP equity by nearly 1,000 votes. For the unopposed positions

of president, VP external, VP internal, and VP university affairs, more students abstained from the vote than those that voted “no”.

In particular, participation was low in the election for the UTMSU Board of Directors. With seven positions available on Division III, only seven candidates ran for a seat.

Division II originally had five candidates running for four available positions, but Sarah Gong withdrew before the polls closed. Gong

stated that she wants to concentrate on her studies next year.

Division IV includes two positions for managing the affairs of part-time students, who do not pay membership fees to UTMSU. (Parttime students are represented by Erindale Undergraduate Part-time Students.) Only one candidate ran for a position, leaving one seat open for a by-election next term.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released an alternative budget on March 15, before the release of the federal government’s budget in parliament. The alternative budget suggests that there is a need to increase access to postsecondary education.

The Canadian Federation of Students, a lobby group that represents student unions at the federal and provincial levels (and that UTM students pay membership fees to), is citing the proposal in its promotion of equality of access to postsecondary education.

The alternative budget outlines four major steps to increase this equality, including creating a cash transfer to reduce postsecondary tuition and removing the funding cap on the Post-Secondary Student Support Program.

The budget cites that tuition fees have increased at more than double the rate of inflation since the 1990s. It asserts that the quickly rising costs of tuition and the cuts to post-secondary funding in the next federal budget will decrease access to postsecondary education.

Elections continued on page 2

Speak-Off on UTM politics Students debated UTMSU elections and UTMAC candidates campaigned at the event SANA HAQ The UTM Debating Club hosted their annual Student Speak-Off, a public speaking tournament, on Thursday in the CCT Building. Students debated the UTM Students’ Union elections and several UTM Athletic Council candidates used the opportunity to campaign.

Students practised their public speaking skills by speaking on a given topic for two minutes in front of an audience and jury. Awards were presented to the top seven speakers of the evening.

Contestants decided to criticize many of the efforts of UTMSU during their speeches, bringing up policies being improperly implemented and their allegedly stubborn and dense nature. One particular student mentioned the “in-your-face

UTSU campaigns at UTM Executives from UTSU campaigned at UTM but didn’t want their photos to appear in the campus newspaper.

Medium News, page 3

New EiC New editorial board voted in.

Get excited.

Medium News, page 4

U of T Festival of Dance

EDWARD CAI/THE MEDIUM

Attendees debated trolls and UTMSU elections. attitude” for gaining votes during election season.

RAWC U, one of the three UTMAC slates, used their speech time to campaign for their party.

Matthew Butler took the stage and talked about his goals and plans to improve student life at UTM.

“I feel the event went off quite well. I think we have an amazing group of members and a very dedicated executive team who bring about the best events on campus,” said Eric Madan, the president of the UTMDBC. He added that the debaters in the club have gone to

tournaments where universities across Canada gather to compete.

The judges were club executives Robert Seredynski, Brad Northcote, and Matthew Lozinski. Butler took first place and Tuneer Mukherjee took second. They were awarded gift cards for Chapters.

Over 200 performers took to the stage this past weekend.

Medium A&E, page 6

To make each other better Last of a three-part investigation into why people get married.

Medium Features, page 10

A year in review Highlighting the 2011/12 athletic season.

Medium Sports, page 11

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«NEWS THE MEDIUM 03.26.2012

UTMAC elections Teaching assistant union engage students holds controversial meeting Three slates run for UTMAC ISAAC OWUSU ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR Three slates are running in the elections for the 2012/13 UTM Athletic Council. The members of all three are vying for seven individual positions. The open positions for next year are VP administration, director of special projects, VP finance, director of public relations, director of intramurals, director of campus recreation and wellness, and president, all coming together to provide athletic events and opportunities for UTM students.

With the increase in competition, the slates’ campaigns reach beyond on-campus lobbying; the slates are also using social media, including Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr, to reach out to the UTM student body.

In past years, UTMAC elections have included an all-candidates debate as a forum for students to question the candidates. A debate has not been scheduled this year.

The orange slate, All Students Actively Participating (ASAP) want to restore a lost pride to the UTM community.

“That’s what we’re talking about— just bringing that sense of community back,” Akcagliyan said. “I heard a couple of years ago there was this one instance where it was like a championship game: all the fans from the bleachers ran down and went behind the net and were

waving their hands while someone was shooting their free throw. I want something like that.”

RAWC U, the green party, is led by Marz Haque. He stated that his slate is an ensemble of the most qualified individuals, carefully selected to make the best team possible to serve on the athletic council. Haque looks to increase the visibility of UTMAC through strong promotion and hype for all UTM events.

“How many times have you seen our mascot going around promoting our events? Some students go, ‘Oh, we have a mascot?’ ” Haque said.

“The students are paying for this.

Now, my goal is to get the mascot out every time we have an event like a week ahead and get volunteers.”

“Yes We Can”, the party decked out in black and yellow, includes incumbents Mike Jamieson and Ramzy Kaouji. Their presidential candidate, Adam Niaz, who previously aided UTMAC as an associate, stresses innovation and the experience of his team members as a factor that separates them from their opponents.

“Through my campaign I’m talking to students and I’m getting really good ideas,” Niaz said. “So we’re trying to get students what they want, and what they will enjoy. And this year we’re trying to go even beyond what we did last year.”

The results will be released at the Athletic Banquet on March 30.

Québec students protest tuition hikes

CUPE national representative warns against violating bylaws LORI-LEE EMSHEY ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR CUPE 3902, the union that represents teaching assistants and sessional lecturers at the University of Toronto, announced the poll results of their referendum on March 7, after extending polling to March 5 to allow more union members to vote.

The agreement with the university was ratified, and the contract will not be up for renewal again until April 2014.

Over 1,800 graduate and undergraduate TAs, part-time lecturers, teaching fellows, demonstrators, tutors, markers, instructors, and invigilators voted, including over 150 from UTM—about three times more than during the last ratification vote in 2009. They voted 67% in favour of the agreement. Although this is a majority, the vote was far from unanimous.

The new collective agreement included a wage increase of 1.5% retroactive to May 2011, a further increase of 2% by 2013, an increase of financial assistance funds from $552,000 to $902,000 by April 2013, a healthcare increase from $2.2 million to $2.8 million, pay equity for undergraduate TAs by 2014, job posting announcements by June 30 for

As part of a series of protests, thousands of students took to the streets of downtown Montréal in the largest demonstration yet against the recent proposed tuition hike. The movement began several weeks ago in response to talks of tuition increases of 75% over five years. Students from universities, colleges, and high schools all got together to march through downtown Montréal, blocking traffic, causing chaos, and trying local citizens’ patience. The protest stretched over 50 blocks.

The Coalition large de l’Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante (CLASSE), a student union coalition, organized a one-day strike on March 20.

Students were to leave classrooms and protest on the day that finance minister Raymond Bachand was constructing a budget that would introduce the hikes.

“The computers on campus actually flashed with a warning telling us not to go outside,” said Hyder Cadersa, a second-year student at McGill University.

This new budget will raise tuition by $325 a year for the next five

years, bringing the yearly tuition cost to approximately $3,793 from $2,168. The budget will come into effect on September 2012.

Student unions asked the provincial government to explain how the money is spent before raising tuition fees. Bachand dismissed this request, but said that 5% of the increase will be returned to low-income families in the form of loans and bursaries.

According to Statistics Canada, Québec students pay the lowest tuition of all the provinces. In contrast, students in Ontario pay the highest, at an average of approximately $6,640. Even after the tuition hike, Québec will have one of the lowest tuitions for full-time undergraduate students.

According to another survey

by Statistics Canada, Québec universities and colleges need this tuition increase because their total expenditures outweigh their total revenue, putting them in a deficit of $250,000. In fact, the universities lobbied for a $500 increase per year rather than the resulting $325.

Bachand commented, “It’s hard to sit down with someone who says, ‘I want a freeze and nothing else’.”

Since the union voted in favour of the agreement, the agenda for the meeting was voided.

The executives still held the meeting, but provided no new agenda in advance.

At the time of the vote, CUPE 3902 scheduled a Unit 1 meeting to prepare for the possibility of a strike in case the agreement was not ratified. Since the union voted in favour of the agreement, the agenda for the meeting was voided. The executives still held the meeting, but provided no new agenda in advance. About 40 CUPE 3902 members attended.

Without a formal agenda, and reading neither the equity

statement nor calling the meeting to order, the assembly continued, according to the notes.

During this meeting the present members independently appointed members to the new provostial working group positions attained during bargaining. A working group is a team of six members from the union and six from the university, usually appointed by the provost, who review and evaluate the role of tutorial groups. Under regular meeting conditions, the union was to elect one representative for the group within 30 days of the collective agreement signed on February 25.

Representatives for committees associated with the administration were also appointed at the meeting, despite the union’s bylaws. The present members also decided that any U of T colleague or member could attend CUPE meetings.

CUPE’s national representative warned against violating the rules and bylaws governing the local chapter, but the meeting continued. The meeting notes encourage UTM Unit 1 CUPE members to attend as many union meetings downtown as possible so their concerns, needs, and opinions can be heard.

Engage wins election Elections continued from Cover

DOAA ROHILLAH

September courses and October 31 for winter courses, guaranteed work for PhD students in the fifth and sixth years of appointment, paternity leave, two months of paid gender reassignment surgery leave, and six hours of paid training for first-time instructors.

The newly created Division V includes one seat from professional faculties, including the Mississauga Academy of Medicine. One candidate ran for the position; the results will be announced Monday afternoon.

Unlike the highly controversial elections between Unity, Students First, and an independent candidate for the University of Toronto Students’ Union, there were no formal complaints submitted to the Chief Returning Officer. The CRO is a hired position responsible for overseeing and enforcing the rules of the election.

According to CRO Babatumi Sodade, there were verbal complaints about campaign materials left at the polling stations. UTM Engage flyers were found inside the polling booths.

Sodade informed the poll clerks that flyers were not permitted at the booths and should be discarded immediately. He then approached UTM Engage, who were campaigning with flyers at the edge of the polling station areas, and informed them that students cannot bring campaign material to the booths.

“Some [students] would say, ‘I need this to vote; can I have it?’ and the poll clerks would tell them to hide it. But

when I’d make my rounds I’d find flyers left behind the voting screens,” Sodade said. “I told UTM Engage that students would have to throw it out right before they get to the voting station. At first, [UTM Engage] were saying that people need the flyers because the people that they talked to needed to see their names to vote.”

“[On my rounds], I’d find flyers left behind the voting screens.”

—Babatumi Sodade The Board of Directors is meant to oversee the finances of UTMSU and hold them accountable to students. This year, many of the Board of Directors candidate statements included the same “engage” comments as the slate.

The Elections Procedures Code was changed this year to allow crosscampaigning. In previous years, candidates for the Board of Directors and executive positions of UTMSU were not allowed to associate their campaigns with each other to gain support.

Although incumbent UTMSU president Gilbert Cassar was un-

aware of the change or the reason, he supported the amendment.

“In my personal opinion, a slate represents individuals united around common values and objectives, which makes for more cohesiveness within a working environment,” Cassar said. “In my opinion, allowing cross-campaigning allows for the freedom of affiliating oneself with another that shares the same values as you.”

Regardless, Sodade enforced limitations on cross-campaigning at his own discretion.

UTM Engage and Kristan were invited to a discussion with The Medium. UTM Engage turned down the opportunity, stating they wanted to spend the time campaigning.

“We all have the right to speak, which also implies the freedom of not speaking. The debate is there and the posters are there. They’re available and you can see them walking around. If the people have questions they can go up to them,” Sodade said.

“But I would expect that the prime minister would speak to and be involved with the media.”

The highest recent voter turnout was two years ago when two slates (both led by incumbent executives) and an independent candidate ran for executive positions.

Picture this

03.26.2012 THE MEDIUM NEWS

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»Which upcoming exam are you the most worried about?

UTSU incumbent campaigns for Engage, refuses photos

STEFANIE MAROTTA/THE MEDIUM

Emad 4th year, biology

Faryal 2nd year, biology

“English. I haven’t taken any English course. My program is bio and psych, so it’s factual.”

“Genetics. It’s a lot of memorization. I have to memorize 10 chapters.”

Bilal 4th year, finance

Mohammad 4th year, economics

“MGT330: investment. The material is hard.”

“ECO370: Economics for organization. It’s a lot of formulas and proofs.”

Shaun Shepherd, president-elect of UTSU, initially did not want this photo in The Medium.

STEFANIE MAROTTA NEWS EDITOR Executive members from the University of Toronto Students’ Union travelled to the Mississauga campus to campaign on behalf of UTM Engage, the slate that ran almost entirely unopposed in the UTM Students’ Union election.

UTSU president Danielle Sandhu and VP external and president-elect Shaun Shepherd donned yellow UTM Engage shirts and discussed issues pertinent to UTM students. On the flipside, during the UTSU election earlier this month, UTMSU employ-

ees and volunteers had campaigned at UTM on behalf of Unity, the slate led

by Shepherd.

Shepherd’s photo was taken while he campaigned to UTM students in the CCT Building. On noticing the camera, Shepherd stated that he did not want his photo in The Medium, citing “personal reasons”. He was asked to make a statement revoking his consent, but declined and walked away.

Later that day, Shepherd tweeted about professionalism and courtesy when taking photographs in public.

According to Canadian law, permission for photos is only required when the photo is taken in a private

venue (such as a house or small meeting), with exceptions for small children. Campus is considered a public space.

Two days later, Shepherd approached editors from The Medium and asserted that his permission is required to publish a photo of him campaigning to students in a public area. VP internal candidate Raymond Noronha interjected and repeatedly asked whether his picture could be used without consent.

Shepherd was informed that photos taken in public settings can be published without consent, and he repealed his earlier statement.

UTM environmental groups discuss sustainable business

The Medium holds AGM, fails to reach quorum

Willard referred to a 2007 study that found that 72% of CEOs around the world thought sustainability should be fully embedded in the strategies and operations of their company.

“That was just before the recession. In 2010, 96% thought so,” continued Willard. “For the first time in the history of recessions, corporate attention to these issues went up. We have to show them that they can win the talent wars, and have more productivity in the workforce, and save money, and get more market share, and make more profit, if they pay attention to the environmental and social aspect of their business.”

Students at UBC asked questions

via a live chat feed, such as: “Is there a way for businesses to collaborate to ask for regulation that helps them address sustainability in society?”

“One of my intents is to have the lobbying that’s being done by corporations with government officials to be lobbying that fosters these kinds of behaviours. The irony is that the oil and gas industry is asking Ottawa for a price on carbon. To their credit, they are actually lobbying quite aggressively for that,” said Willard. “I think there is a role for regulations, but I don’t want to have a business case that’s dependent on new regulations or else the business case won’t work.

So I am not assuming any new technology or regulations. It’s business as usual today.”

Willard worked as a manager in management development with IBM Canada for 11 years. He received his PhD in adult education and sustainability from U of T. His new book, The New Sustainability Advantage, shows case studies of how businesses can gain from using sustainability strategies.

“Potential increase in profit (for companies) in the next 3 to 5 years is from 51 to 81%. The challenge here is not so much the calculation, it’s the communication of the business case,” said Willard.

“I’m not asking them to save the world; I’m asking them to make more money. Meet them where they are, talk their language, help them do that, and as a co-benefit you’ll end up doing something useful for the environment.”

Last Tuesday, The Medium held its annual general meeting in DV 3093. As in previous years, quorum was not reached, so official motions could not be passed. About 20 students attended, including regular students and members of UTMSU. After a brief presentation of the financial statements, the rest of the meeting was devoted to a questionand-answer period.

Questions about the operation of the newspaper pertained to its popularity, impartiality, and transparency. Gilbert Cassar, the current president of UTMSU, took a particular interest in the well-being of the paper, and members of both the editorial board and the Board of Directors expressed absolute

accordance with these ideals. For now, they said, all of The Medium’s documents, including its financial statements, minutes, and constitution, can be found on its website, mediumutm.ca.

All students are fee-paying members of The Medium and are eagerly invited to contribute to it in all regards, whether it be writing, applying to editorial positions, running for the Board, or, of course, keeping up the standards of the newspaper by catching our inevitable mistakes when they can.

One attendee asked whether quorum would be lowered in future years. Quorum must be reached in order to do so.

Next year’s AGM is intended to take place at a more convenient time for students, for example early in the first semester.

New NDP leader elected after prolonged election

Psychic surgeon in Brazil cures man’s poor sight

Japanese fishing boat washes up on Canadian shores

Grade three kids have oral sex under desk, teacher fired

Man shoots teenager, lawyer says action was not racist

Thomas Mulcair defeated six other opponents on Saturday. He won with 57.2% of the vote, defeating his closest rival by about 15%. In his speech, Mulcair promised to continue to give the people a “reason to believe”. He denounced the option to merge with the Liberals to pose as a unified opposition against the Conservatives.

A 69-year-old man in Brazil works as a psychic surgeon, performing miracles on people who travel long distances to be treated. John of God doesn’t charge a fee, but does accept donations. The American Cancer Society states that psychic surgeons convince patients with that they’ve been cured. John of God’s most recent patient says his sight has greatly improved.

A boat that was lost in Japan’s tsunami a year ago was found on Canada’s west coast on Saturday. It’s the largest item to have travelled from Japan to North America as a result of the earthquake. The province of British Columbia and the states of Washington, Oregon, and California have agreed to coordinate management of debris and return sentimental items to Japan.

The principal of Tallulah Elementary School in Louisiana decided to fire a teacher for failing to notice two of her students engaging in oral sex under a desk in the classroom.

“We have to make sure we have people in these classrooms who are monitoring our students,” said Lisa Wilmore, the district superintendent. Both children are now receiving counselling.

The lawyer representing George Zimmerman, the man accused of shooting a Florida teenager in the back of the head, claims that his client’s actions were not for racist reasons. Zimmerman reportedly shot a black 17-year-old because the hooded teenager looked suspicious.

Police have faced criticism for failing to arrest Zimmerman.

Source: Canada.com

Source: Huffington Post

Source: Yahoo! News Canada

Source: CBS Houston

Source: Reuters

Business continued from Cover

LUKE SAWCZAK COPY EDITOR

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03.26.2012

MEDIUM OPINION Editor-in-Chief » Michael Di Leo

A new kind of history Here it is. The last issue of the year.

And on a more sentimental note, my last issue for The Medium. Ever.

This was my fifth year working at The Medium, and in my time here I’ve come to learn quite a bit about the inner workings and history of our student newspaper.

I’ve heard stories that, barring an emotional breakdown and tell-all book, will remain unknown to future generations of editors. I, along with some of the most recent EiCs, am all that remains of the present “institutional history”. And that is

exactly how it should be.

Student organizations aren’t meant to be static. There’s a turnover of positions every year for a reason: to stay current, and to give everyone the opportunity to participate. “Institutional history”, in a certain sense, is a totally bogus idea when it comes to student organizations. It means things aren’t working the way they should. It means no one has had any vision, or worse, that they lacked the courage to push forward and try something new.

This year’s team has proven that change is not only good, but a necessary part of maintaining a student organization. Our Design and Sports Editors, Sophia and Anna, who joined us late in the year, have changed the way people look at and read our newspaper. Our Features Editor, Larissa, built on the good work of previous editors and made the Features section more readable and current than ever before. Nives, our Arts Editor, has treated student art with the respect and critical approach normally re-

served for professionals. Our Copy Editor, Luke, has taught us all the intricacies of Canadian newspaper style and Edward, our Photo Editor, takes some of the best photos I have ever seen (just look at the magazine). Last but not least, Stefanie Marotta, our News Editor and next year’s Editor-in-Chief, has demonstrated her professionalism and integrity in her coverage of UTM news, making it one of the best sections on record.

All of this makes me very hopeful for next year. It is important

that we try new things and push into new spaces, especially considering the direction they say print journalism is going. The old way doesn’t work anymore; that much is clear.

I hope next year’s team finds their own creative ways to cover the stories that are important to UTM students—institutional history be damned.

YOURS, MICHAEL DI LEO

Starting anew A word from next year’s EiC I was 16 when I first picked up The Medium during a campus tour of UTM. I didn’t know about UTMSU, Erindale College Council, or any of the topics in the news section, but I wanted so badly to write an article. It wasn’t until my second year at UTM that I worked up the courage to head up to the office and meet Saaliha, the News Editor at the time.

Three years later, working at The Medium continues to challenge me and make me see the world from different viewpoints. I think this is what university should be about: forcing yourself into experiences outside your comfort zone and learning from new perspectives.

No matter which campus organization you choose to get in-

volved with, I want students to look to The Medium to ask important questions and investigate contentious issues. I’ve worked with many talented editors and writers to get to this point, but I wouldn’t feel ready to take on the position if it hadn’t been for the direction and guidance of this year’s Editorin-Chief, Michael Di Leo. I had the pleasure of working with an excellent associate News Editor, Lori-Lee Emshey. She produced analytical and intriguing articles that asked all the right questions.

The students on next year’s editorial board have earned their positions and I’m looking forward to meeting as a team.

—Stefanie Marotta

Letters from Ruba El-Khadri and the UTM Catholic Students’ Club can be found online at www.mediumutm.ca COREY BELFORD/THE MEDIUM

03.26.2012

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MEDIUM A&E Editor » Nives Hajdin

The Shins return with Port of Morrow COREY BELFORD “Hiatus”: that awkward, ominous word every devoted music fan fears might mean the end of their favourite band.

Though a hiatus isn’t nearly as traumatic as an actual breakup, one can never be too sure when it comes to musicians.

Many feared that the five-year departure taken by frontman James Mercer would mean the end of the Shins. The last time we heard from the likes of Mercer was in the form of Broken Bells, a marriage between his own dreamy musings and Danger Mouse’s fine-tuned, radio-ready production. Through this brief departure, Mercer—who had long avoided the influence of producers—realized his own potential for bigger, more vibrant songwriting. It’s no surprise, then, that some of this seems to have rubbed off on his first love, and it’s safe to assume that Port of Morrow marks a new era for this band.

Then again, “band” is sort of a relative term when it comes to the Shins.

These days, “the Shins” is really just another way of saying “James Mercer and

friends”; Mercer has been quoted expressing an interest in being an auteur, à la Billy Corgan, and seems to have followed through with this intention. The rest of the band is now a completely different group from what Zach Braff first heard when Natalie Portman eagerly handed him her headphones over all those years ago in Garden State, and one might wonder, after listening to Port of Morrow, whether we can really continue to call them the Shins.

The slow, reflective nature of Mercer’s brainchild has evolved into a sunny, uptempo, and occasionally danceable affair, flirting with power pop. One may have been able to spend a solitary afternoon daydreaming and listening to Oh, Inverted World or Wincing the Night Away, but Port of Morrow lends itself perfectly to sing-alongs in car rides on sunny afternoons with a row of friends in the back seat. What would Braff make of this transformation?

If there’s a word to describe this album, it’s “reassuring”. Mercer’s lyrics are sung with the voice of someone who has made it to the other side and has life’s mysteries mostly figured out. The

songwriting lacks much of the subtlety of Mercer’s earlier work, which is not to say it’s a step backward; some of the most irresistibly catchy stuff of the Shins’ career can be found here without the sacrifice of lyrical profundity.

“The Rifle’s Spiral” kicks off the pack with a skipping beat, swirling instrumentation, and a high-flying vocal melody with a steady upward momentum. It invokes the feeling of embarking off on an adventure, which indeed we are. “Simple Song” begins with a cheery march, building dramatically to a triumphant chorus and setting the optimistic tone of the album. “It’s Only Life” dials the energy back with an affectionate letter to a friend, and we begin to remember what it was we liked so much about this band in the first place.

The last two songs feel like love letters from present-day Mercer to his 20-something self, assuring him that living isn’t nearly as tough as it seems at first. “September” is probably the closest thing this album has to a classic Shins song, and it’s a welcome change of pace, but it benefits from standing alone in that. The energy continues to

stereogum.com/photo

pick up and wind down all the way to the end of the album, ultimately ending with an ethereal title track that sends the listener peacefully to sleep after an enjoyable reunion with a high school bestie, now a little older, a little wiser, but somehow more fun than the last time you hung out.

So is it safe to call this a definitive Shins album? I guess that depends on

how you define “band” to begin with. the Shins of yesteryear dealt with the perplexities and inherent tribulations of life, while the Shins of today are all for going outside and living it despite them. This the kind of record that everyone needs to hear, because when it really comes down to it, we all need to learn to do that as well as the Shins have. MMMM

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«ARTS THE MEDIUM

03.26.2012

Put on your dancing shoes ARISTOTLE ELIOPOULOS ASSOCIATE A&E EDITOR On Friday and Saturday night, Hart House Theatre presented the 17th annual U of T Festival of Dance. Put together by festival director Melanie Mastronardi and her festival staff, the show showcased over 200 dancers over two days.

The show carried itself through with a variety of performances by many talented dancers affiliated with U of T and the surrounding community. After a short introductory video for the audience, the show started with a bang. In cardigans, pastel colours, and smiles wider than the girls’ poodle skirts, the St. Michael’s College Student Union delivered a rendition of the song “It’s Hairspray” from the musical Hairspray, a familiar song and dance number that put the crowd in a good mood. The night also featured an original song from the U of T engineering sketch comedy musical Revue, titled “Deadline”, which articulated the woes of meeting an academic deadline on time, something any student—including but not limited to engineers—can understand.

With ringlets in their hair and sequined skirts, dancers also presented a variety of Irish and Celtic dances, such as the four-hand reel, the slip jig, the polka, and a traditional solo

Daniel DiMarco/photo

U of T’s annual Festival of Dance featured over a dozen different types of dance. set dance to the traditional folk tune “The Three Sea Captains”.

The two nights also featured a diverse range of multicultural dances, ranging from Punjabi to Spanish ballroom to Bollywood to belly dancing. The highlights included solo dances by Parneeta Singh and Rugveda Gawade and two unique steam-fusion dances by the ladies of the Dragonfly Student Troupe.

One crowd favourite was a performance by the self-proclaimed

“full-figured” dance company Arabesque Earthshakers, who danced to “Ya Gamid”. The six ladies’ dance, which included booty-slapping, bosom-shaking, and belly-pounding, thrilled the crowd with its energy and celebratory mood, making it one of the standouts of the festival.

The Festival of Dance also gave performers the chance to express themselves through interpretive dance. Supported by the two Florence + the Machine tracks “My

Boy Builds Coffins” and “Blinding”, Krista Mitchnick showed off her agility and light-footedness with two powerful numbers on the first night.

Shak Haq, a dancer and the lighting designer for the show, wooed the crowd with a silly and playful solo dance to Akon’s “Chammak Challo” and told a solemn story of a love triangle through a dance set to Goyte’s “Somebody That I Used to Know.”

The show also tackled some serious themes. Two pieces that were

sure to stir up discussion among the audience were “Night in Paris”, a dance set about overcoming loneliness by the Russian Student Association Dance Ensemble, and “War”, a performance about the Hiroshima tragedy by the Ismailova Theatre of Dance. The sets from Limitless Production titled “Sneaky in Suburbia” and the vampire-themed dance group the Underworld also used dance to tell imaginative stories without words.

Yet even with its serious side, the festival still had room for compelling and fun moments. The K-popstyle hair flips and leg kicks by the U of T Dance Club set “Girls in Action”, and the Nintendo noises and dubstep dance from the OG Crew that ended the festival’s first night, were two of many topical sets that allowed the audience to see the dancers having some fun not only putting together their routines but performing them as well.

The two nights left the audience feeling good. Many of the attendees came out to support the performers, inject a bit of culture into their weekend, or just see something new. With its wide variety of talented dancers and subject matter, they could have even risked squeezing the event into a single evening. But in any case, a strong and receptive audience and a strong organizing team made the night a success in all respects.

A big thank-you to the following writers for contributing to the Arts & Entertainment section this year: Darren Savage Corey Belford Lori-Lee Emshey Matthew Butler Andrea Ambrogi

Elizabeth Luong-Do Edward Cai Lysan Sequeira Amir Ahmed Philippe Witmer

Raj-Kabir Birk Luke Sawczak Matthew Long Andrew Bogatek Adriana Floridia

Larissa Ho Alexandra Balaj Amanda Pignotti Pamela Kramer Andrew Dmytrasz

And a very special mention goes to our two associate editors, Colleen Munro and Aristotle Eliopoulos.

Help recognize teaching, research and staff service excellence at U of T Mississauga

Submit a nomination and have an outstanding faculty, teaching assistant and/or staff member recognized for their excellence. The winner in each category will be recognized at a reception convened ! by the Vice-President and Principal in the fall and will receive a special award plaque.

Nominations from groups and individuals are invited for four awards: • Teaching Excellence Award for Faculty • Teaching Excellence Award for Teaching Assistants • Research Excellence Award • Staff Service Award Nominations from students are encouraged.

To nominate an outstanding faculty member, teaching assistant, and/or staff go to http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/governance/awards for important information on how to assemble a nomination package.

Deadline for submissions: Friday, May 18, 2012

03.26.2012 THE MEDIUM A&E

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7

Everyone just wants a good show Reality television gets dystopian in the film adaptation of The Hunger Games COLLEEN MUNRO ASSOCIATE A&E EDITOR If you’ve been anywhere near a bookstore or a teenager in the past couple of months, you’ve probably heard of The Hunger Games. The young adult books have become a phenomenon among teens and adults alike, and now, with the movie adaptation of the first book, the series has the opportunity to reach an even wider audience. But is it a compelling enough adaptation to win the series a new legion of fans?

One gets the impression that a large part of the appeal of The Hunger Games comes from its premise.

It follows the life of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen (played by Jennifer Lawrence), who lives in a dystopic society called Panem. In Panem, there are 12 impoverished districts, all of which are controlled by the powerful, opulent citizens of the Capitol. After a failed uprising by all 12 districts years ago, the Capitol enforced a tradition called the Hunger Games. Each year, each district must send a “tribute” of a teenage boy and girl to the Hunger Games arena, where they must fight to the death while all of Panem watches on television. Only one survives.

When Katniss’s younger sister, Prim, is selected as the District 12 female competitor, Katniss volunteers to take her place. Her fellow District 12 tribute is Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), and for the two of them, their best chance of survival comes in the wobbly, drunken

boston.com/photo

Katniss and Peeta. Sick names, bro. form of Haymitch (Woody Harrelson), a previous District 12 victor who becomes their mentor. Training and media attention can only last for so long, though, and soon Katniss and Peeta find themselves in the vicious world of the Hunger Games, where they must battle 22 other children (and, unavoidably, each other) for the chance to survive and see their families again.

One of the major strengths of The Hunger Games as a movie is its visual tone. Director Gary Ross captures the suffering of the district citizens in just a few shots at the beginning of the film. He also provides some truly creepy dystopic

imagery. The high-tech aircrafts and television crews of the Capitol slowly infiltrate the quiet District 12 when it comes time to select their Hunger Games competitors, and their presence is very unsettling.

For a blockbuster movie about children fighting each other to the death, The Hunger Games is surprisingly low-key. Ross doesn’t take a sensationalizing approach, and I think it works to his advantage. The killings in the arena come fast and with relatively little fuss, and, in a strange way, that gives them more impact. There are a few moments of high action as Katniss battles the elements and her competitors, but

Ross knows when to use them, and when to hold back.

The Hunger Games also has a huge advantage with Jennifer Lawrence in the leading role. Lawrence not only has the physicality to play Katniss, but she also perfectly conveys all of the varied emotions that Katniss experiences. Lawrence was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in the 2010 indie drama Winter’s Bone, and here she proves that she can bring that same vulnerability and understated charisma to a much larger role.

Harrelson is also brilliant as Haymitch. He deftly balances comic relief moments with unconven-

tional warmth, and Haymitch’s relationship with Katniss becomes one of the most interesting interactions in the movie. Harrelson is an expert at going big without going over-thetop, and here he turns a small role into something memorable.

However, this is a very long movie. It’s nearly two and a half hours long, and it feels like it. It takes at least an hour for the actual Hunger Games to begin, and while the pre-Games setup is interesting in its own right and helps establish the characters, it really does go on for a long time. The film begins to drag around the 45-minute mark, and it doesn’t pick back up until Katniss steps into the Hunger Games arena.

There is a lot of plot to fit into the movie, and the pacing in some parts feels off. Certain key moments are abrupt and rushed, which sometimes loses the movie some of the urgency the book had. Unfortunately, the climax of the film is one of these moments; the movie quickly wraps up in a slightly bewildering way. It sets the stage for the second movie in the trilogy, but it doesn’t really feel like a satisfying conclusion to the first one. Some films do manage to do both.

The Hunger Games has undeniably exciting action scenes, and it’s an impressive feat as a visual spectacle. It would have been nice to see more development in the supporting characters and a shorter runtime, but on the whole, both teens and adults can enjoy the movie.

Future teen franchise flicks should take note. MMM½

The Beaverton makes people chuckle, a bit AMIR AHMED The TTC is not funding Grand Theft GTA, an all-male team of scientists did not declare nudity to be “awesome”, and Bob Rae did not try to pawn the Liberal Party of Canada for $25 and a bust of Liberace. Instead, these are some of the stories published by The Beaverton, known as “North America’s Trusted Source of News” (trusted, at least, according to The Beaverton).

The Beaverton is Toronto’s leading native satirical newspaper. It can be found in cafés, bookstores, and pubs downtown, as well as online at thebeaverton.com. The newspaper is the product of Laurent Noonan, a U of T graduate, beaver costume owner, and generally funny guy. Noonan has published two print issues of The Beaverton and is planning a third for release in the next few months.

The Beaverton is a long-planned enterprise for Noonan. As former editor of The Toike, U of T’s engineering/ humour paper, Noonan tried to get a proto-Beaverton started up years ago, but was unable to while his peer group were getting jobs and families. After three years of self-taught web design, graphic design, and volunteering with campus newspapers, he launched The Beaverton’s website and began

edward cai/the medium

networking for new writers. After another two years scouring for writers and content, he now has a dedicated team of funny people writing for the site and occasional print issues.

The issues are modelled on traditional metro-style newspapers. The layout has confused some people, who have come across them on the subway and taken headlines like “New study shows depression linked to sharing office space with Dave” to be genuine news.

When he created The Beaverton,

Noonan’s goal was to bring Canadian content to satirical news. “I’ve been a big fan of The Onion ever since my high school creative writing teacher had us study a few of their articles.

He made us read ‘Study reveals: babies are stupid’,” he says. “I thought I’d try to mimic their model within Canada, seeing as how they don’t target Canadians with their content and advertising. Especially since they [didn’t] distribute free print copies over here.”

When asked if it’s hard to be funny

all the time, Noonan replies, “It’s also really hard being serious all the time too, I imagine. Anyone that’s able to be funny all the time has probably done their 10,000 hours to master their craft. I’m not there yet.”

“Craft” is right. Noonan says that writing fake news is a different game from traditional standup. “With live comedy, you have a room full of people instantly letting you know if something is funny or not based on the reactions you get. I think it’s harder to write funny, because it’s harder to find

people who’ll take the time to read your stuff and be able to explain why it isn’t funny.”

In the past months, Noonan has advertised The Beaverton with a beaver costume and a volunteer writer handing out copies of the paper on campuses across the GTA. The beaver mascot—“Castro”, as he is called— managed to attract a few interested readers. However, when winter rolled by, Noonan and his team had to fall back on more traditional grassroots advertising: establishing ties with coffee shops and bars in the city for distribution, and planning a few books of article collections and a style guide.

Before the third issue is released, readers can read some of the articles in advance on the website. For example, they might be intrigued to discover the article “Study finds comedians make better lovers”, which claims, “A comedian is the most suited of any profession for threesomes, foursomes, or any number which does not exceed the room’s fire safety code.”

Hey, it comes from North America’s Trusted Source of News.

(Full disclosure: a couple of months ago Amir Ahmed had a few articles of his own in The Beaverton. You should probably check them out and give him hits. Especially the Bob Rae one.

Haha. That’s a good one.)

8

« 03.26.2012

MEDIUM FEATURES Editor » Larissa Ho

An Aboriginal lesson in philosophies Traditional teacher Cat Criger, UTM’s Aboriginal elder, talks about his philosophies on life and spirituality Larisssa Ho features editor If you’ve been on the annual UTM experiential journey to the First Nations community on Curve Lake, where students get the opportunity to engage directly with First Nations people and learn their teachings while on their land, you’ve probably already met Cat Criger.

Cat sits across from me in his Davis Building office across from Spigel Hall in a jovial mood. He’s just arrived at UTM from visiting an elementary school in Toronto to teach young children about Aboriginal history, culture, and tradition.

“They were so prepared,” says Cat, beaming. “They had so many questions.”

I first met Cat at the Office of Student Life’s multi-faith steering committee meeting last month, and was immediately intrigued by his presence and what he had to say about multi-faith space on the UTM campus and the need for space in which to “pray the way you were taught to pray”. Later, I learned that Cat’s placement at UTM is that of “traditional Aboriginal elder”.

“For our culture, that’s one that carries knowledge about all of our—or some of our— cultural ways of doing things, and our cultural philosophy and our traditional ceremony,” explains Cat. The name he goes by, most of the time, is Cat. It doesn’t really refer to a housecat. It means a sharp-clawed one, like pumas and mountains lions, that is “very gentle and walks

quietly”, he says. It also refers to a mythological lynx in his culture.

Cat is Cayuga (Guyohkohnyoh), Turtle Clan from the Six Nations Haudenosaunee (or People of the Longhouse), on his father’s side. He has been working as a traditional teacher and elder for about 20 years. Under the mentorship of other First Nations elders, Cat learned to perform traditional ceremonies and teachings.

Now he is being asked to visit schools in the surrounding areas, including in the Peel District School Board and Toronto District School Board, to talk to children—because “that’s where our future students are coming from”.

I must be one of many on campus who are not culturally aware of the Aboriginal way of life, and besides briefly learning about Aboriginals in a social science unit in grade six, I know next to nothing about Aboriginal culture. His role at UTM, namely to make UTM students more aware of the culture and more accessible to Aboriginal students, is fascinating. He makes himself available to meet with students one-on-one throughout the year, to advise them and offer guidance.

“We want to make UTM students more aware of who we are and attract more students, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, and hopefully make it a very comfortable place where we can work together,” says Cat. “A lot of people do not know about our culture, do not understand how our people do things. We do things differently. How we interact is differ-

ent. How we learn is different.

As a traditional teacher, I am obliged to teach the culture. I offer that to students, to faculty—offer that to anyone who is interested.”

People weren’t always interested. But that’s rapidly changing.

“Growing up in the 1950s and 60s, being native wasn’t very cool,” says Cat. “We were a group of people that there was a lot of prejudice against; there w[ere] a lot of unkind feelings towards us. And as time passed, people started to understand we have a very deep philosophy of life.”

This idea wasn’t really listened to before, Cat says.

“We were put on reserves, and there was the assimilation process, there were the residential schools, there was a well-defined government policy, to assimilate us,” he explains. “The government and the police force came to the reserve, took the children, and forced them to go to residential schools. A lot of people don’t realize that. There were very few countries on this planet that carried on a form of genocide that encourages the abduction of children from their parents and incarceration in residential schools. Over a century that happened.”

It started in the early 1800s and did not end until 1996, when they closed the last residential school.

“It’s hard to apologize to someone for taking their children,” he says. “I’ve yet to meet a mother that would accept if you took her children away.

Sometimes I’ll ask in my teaching circles, ‘If I came and took

your children and you never got them back, or they came back abused or hurt or dead, would “I’m sorry” be okay?’

I’ve yet to have a mother say yes.”

Criger has been lecturing since 2006 at many different faculties, including those of pharmacy, aboriginal studies, theology, and biomedical sciences. In particular, he teaches about purely traditional medicinal knowledge in biomedical science—that is, wellbeing, psychology, and psychiatry, as Aboriginals view them.

How did it happen that an Aborginal elder came to teach at these lectures? Cat attributes it to a recent movement in which Aboriginal people are moving into mainstream and public sector jobs, which leads to a more Aboriginal-friendly atmosphere. People are becoming more culturally aware of Aboriginal teachings and philosophies in a way that they haven’t been before.

“Nowadays people are interested in how we live in balance with nature. We have 12,000 years of living in balance with nature. Zero pollution. Zero clear-cutting. Zero dams—except ones made by the beavers,” jokes Cat. “We weren’t responsible for demolishing entire species. People want to know why and how we did that. We have philosophies and teachings that talk about respecting everything and everyone. Of course, part of respecting animals is you don’t wipe out entire species. Codfish is an amazing example.

How can you empty half an ocean of cod? That takes a lot of effort. At some point you’d

expect someone to say, ‘This is wrong’.”

What caused this shift in the popular attitude towards Aboriginals?

“People are interested in getting through life and being happy,” Cat says. “When they see a way of going through life and a foundation of teachings that make that possible, they have to share it.”

The third annual experiential journey, “Waawaahte Northern Lights Initiative”, will take place this year from April 1 to 4 and is open to both U of T and non-U of T students.

Students will get the chance to engage directly with Cat and other First Nations people at the First Nations community at Curve Lake, about two hours north of UTM. Cat shows me pictures from last year’s experiential journey.

“This is one of the students.

She decided that playing on the sand pile near the tepee was a lot of fun…You can see she’s having a really good time. This was a stressed-out student; this is no longer a stressed-out student.”

It seems that following Aboriginal teachings can calm you down, relax you. I leave his office feeling more aware, more enlightened, less ignorant. I feel I have barely scratched the surface of understanding what it means to be Aboriginal, what it means to live in balance with all creation and respect all living things.

Their philosophies and spiritualities are obviously worth taking note of. I decide I’m going to spread the word by writing this article, and come back to learn more.

Thank you, one and all A huge thank-you from the Features Editor to the editorial team, associates, and contributors.

First, I’d like to express all my gratitude for this year’s editorial board. I’m grateful for the wonderful times we’ve had together this past year. It has been an excellent experience, full of ups and downs, but I loved every moment of it. I’m very proud of the work we’ve done and the quality of the paper we’ve all produced this year together.

Thanks to Michael Di Leo

for his lovely support and guidance, Nives Hajdin for her conversation, Edward Cai for his punctuality, Stefanie Marotta for her love, Anna Bediones for her sense of humour, Sophia Leonard for the laughs, and Luke Sawczak for generally being amazing.

Also, a huge THANK-YOU goes out to the contributors of the Features section

for the 2011/12 year. That means thank you to Amir Ahmed, Luke Sawczak, Catherine Lopes, Jodelle DeJesus, Chrystal Colquhoun, Xinyu Hu, Yara Matar, Gordon Freeman, Rowan Elshabassy, Nazifa Islam, Priyanka Kumar, Jennifer Ewen, Darren Savage, Hakima Hafizi, Alexander Tkachuk, Stefanie Marotta, Ahmad Al-Hendi,

Abeer Rehman, Abhilasha Patel, Tai Nguyen, Gwera Kiwana, Anna Konareva, Valeria Ryrak, Saamiyah AliMohammed, and Jai Sangha.

A special thank-you goes out to my associate editors, Carine Abouseif and Emily Acheson, for their dedication and reliability, and whose wellwritten and thought-provoking articles shaped the

Features section into a diverse and informative section we can all be proud of.

Best of luck with exams, congratulations to those who are graduating. I hope to see returning students writing again for the Features section next year.

Sincerely, Larissa Ho

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03.26.2012 THE MEDIUM FEATURES

9

We really “like” ourselves Studies find a link between time spent on Facebook and narcissistic personality traits Carine Abouseif Associate Features editor Recent research says we’re narcissists. Actually, it says we’re acquiring more and more narcissistic traits, “we” being the youth, the young adults, the social media users.

In 2010, researcher Soraya Mehdizadeh surveyed 100 York University students, 50 male and 50 female. Mehdizadeh and her team analyzed the students’ Facebook pages, and asked the students questions to determine how they felt about themselves in terms of self-esteem and narcissistic feelings.

Her study found a few interesting things. For example, she found that students with lower self-esteem checked their Facebook page more often.

She also found a difference between the way male and female students “promoted” themselves on Facebook.

While female students usually used their profile picture as a means for attracting attention, male usually used some form of writing for that purpose. They had flashier, more

descriptive “About Me” and “Notes” sections.

Finally, Mehdizadeh found a correlation between time spent on Facebook and narcissistic personality traits.

Let’s backtrack for a minute.

When you think of narcissistic personality traits, what do you see? Do you see someone obsessed with their self-image?

Do you someone preening and primping themselves all day in front of a mirror?

Those characteristics tend to overlap with narcissistic behaviour, but narcissism is something bigger. In psychological terms, narcissism describes a range of self-perceptions from regular, healthy self-confidence to complete self-absorption and self-importance. Some examples of narcissistic personality traits are constantly seeking admiration, exaggerated selfishness, and an inflated perception of one’s own abilities.

The 2010 study found that frequent Facebook use was associated with these traits. Mehdizadeh admits, of course, that the small survey group and its specific demographic

can’t tell us about every single Facebook user. More fundamentally, she questions the causality of the whole thing.

She asks, “Is it that narcissists are more likely to use Facebook—or people who use Facebook are more likely to become narcissists?”

In 2012, another study looked into the link between Facebook and narcissistic traits. This time, researchers surveyed almost 300 people between the ages of 18 and 65.

They found that subjects that tested higher on the “grandiose exhibitionism” scale tagged themselves in the most photos, updated their newsfeeds most, and reacted to offensive comments most aggressively.

But the biggest indicator they found was number of friends.

In most cases, a higher number of Facebook friends indicated a higher narcissistic personality score. Unsurprisingly, those with a higher score tended to accept more friend requests from strangers.

Still, the lead researcher on the team, Christopher Carpenter, insisted that the study of psychology as related to social

media and the web is still relatively new, and that much more research needs to be done.

But there are other studies that indicate that we love ourselves a lot more than our parents did.

Researcher Jean Twenge tested 16,475 American students. He team found a jump between the statistics presented by university students in 1982 and those in 2006. Usually, the longer you’ve been alive, the higher you score on a narcissism personality test.

Here, however, Twenge found that the 2006 students scored higher on the test.

Twenge hypothesizes that a constant stream of compliments from parents, teachers, and other adults while the students in his study were growing up might be the reason for the higher scores. Well, it’s no secret that the parenting model of excessive positive reinforcement has come under fire recently for the popular perception that it engenders a sense of entitlement.

When presented with the idea that narcissism could be beneficial in some way, coau-

thor W. Keith Campbell admitted the advantages of these traits when auditioning for American Idol, but in other aspects of life they’re not helpful.

Aside from maybe hyping up the impression you make when you meet new people, a person with narcissistic traits risks shortened romantic relationships and becoming dishonest, unemotional, and violent.

So is it worse to love yourself or hate yourself ? Optimistic researchers suggest that things would be a lot worse if students ranked too low on a narcissistic personality test.

Either way, we still don’t know the particular cause. Did our parents love us too much? Did our teachers give us too many gold stars? Did the mirror of social media morph our brains to automatic self-worship? The answer to that last question is probably—hopefully—our addictions beg that it be—a resounding no. But as a generation partly raised by computers, we still have to wonder what growing up with the Internet has changed in our perception of others, and in our own self-perception.

10 THE MEDIUM «FEATURES 03.26.2012

Marriage: A union and a sacrament Part three of a three-part series: A math genius shares his reflections on romantic love, relationships, and commitment Valeria Ryrak Sergio is a U of T math student, who, at 23, recently got accepted into a PhD program at Cornell. In addition to that soaring achievement, he will be getting married next summer to his girlfriend of seven years, Ernestine.

I sat down with Sergio to make some personal use of his brainpower and get him to share snippets of wisdom that a relationship culminating in marriage no doubt yields. Now, I knew from the start that Sergio’s beliefs about this fairly controversial subject—marriage in the modern age—would be passed through the sieve of the Catholic catechism, but what the heck, I thought.

Though I consider myself a child of the New Age movement that is often railed against, there must be something I can learn from him. And there was. So in spite of the preconceived notions that initially made me wary of the interview, I discovered some startling truths. Let me share them with you now.

“A marriage is a union, and also a sacrament in our church,” was Sergio’s first memorable quote. Never before had I had it clarified in such a comprehensible way as to what marriage is to Catholics. Let me explain: for a devout Catholic, marriage is for life. It is forever the way tattoos were before laser removal was invented. Although I hear

Jesus said there will be no marriage in heaven. The specifics are currently beyond me, but on with the story.

It all began in grade eleven: Ernestine had newly arrived in Canada from the Philippines, and Sergio resented having yet another ostensibly incompetent classmate being added to his project group. Nevertheless, friendship followed, a stage which Sergio advises all potential couples to go through before dating.

“This is the time to see if you would even be compatible,” he says. “If you can’t be great friends, you likely won’t be great life partners.”

Makes sense.

“Since the beginning, I told her that if we ever break up, that would be it,” Sergio reflects. So no second takes, then. Ah, the solid resolve of the scientific mindset. “Breaking up and then getting back together gives you doubts, I think,” he continues. “It’s a weakening of the relationship.” And true to his intent, the two have never broken up during the seven-year period. If you’ve ever broken up with someone you deeply cared about, you know that in the moment you’d do anything to dilute the devastation, the hurt and defeat of the moment. Personally, I think some bitter seriousness and pragmatism at the start of a relationship would be preferable to the quickly accumu-

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lating “sort-of” breakups and gettingback-togethers that far too many relationships must endure. I listened on.

Sergio talked a bit about the criteria that every person has in mind for a potential mate. They fall under two categories: “objective principles”, such as religious views, political views, morals, and “subjective principles”, like the way you prefer to fold your laundry.

Agreement on matters of the former category are imperative, says Sergio, because matters of principle are usually non-negotiable. “Can a Liberal be successfully married to a Conservative?”

I wondered. It depends on how much the liberalness and the conservativeness are part of each person’s daily life, and how much the two were willing to reconcile. Sergio was strategic about being with someone who shared the majority of his beliefs, and I believe his relationship was easier to maintain because of it.

Things got enormously interesting when I consulted my roster of difficult questions. Such as... What is the purpose of marriage?

“To make each other better,” he replied. This response was what dispelled my prejudice, changing it to “This guy really talks some sense!”

How do you distinguish love from lust? “Time. If you are able to wait that long without being intimate, then that’s love,” he says. I remembered that Rochelle, in our last series, had given a similar response. Love, then, is whatever’s beyond the drive for sex, what doesn’t depend on the benefits of sex.

Which makes sense, since sex rarely comes before anything else, anyway.

I then asked what preparations go into proposing. “Surety of commitment. Financial stability. Parental con-

sent.” All in all, having weighed the various factors, Sergio and Ernestine have waited three years since their engagement, and seven years since they began dating. They’ll be taking their vows this summer. Both have their parents as models for the longevity of marriage, and both have grown up with the idea of having a family of their own.

But isn’t he intimidated by the sheer prospect of being a married man at 23, before he’s even done school?

Not at all. “It’s much better to be married younger than older, in my opinion, because when younger it’s easier to adjust,” Sergio says. “You don’t have those age-old habits that one develops with age that are then impossible to let go of.” And balancing a grad school workload with romance?

“Professors do it all the time,” Sergio pointed out. “They teach, do research, and have families. So if I can’t manage it now, how will I manage it later on?”

Fair enough.

My interviewing time had almost run out, but I wanted to squeeze in two last questions. My intent was to have Sergio comment on divorce, and what his perspective was on the reasons behind its prevalence in society.

“Marriage is eternal, and people have forgotten that,” he says. “The change in popular morality also contributed, in that there are things now done freely that in former times were retained solely for marriage. Society has come to accept cohabitation [and] sex before marriage as incontrovertible, and that leads to a lack of seriousness in terms of longevity of the relationship.”

This was the point I disagreed with more than any other. Surely most of us know of at least one real-life example where a couple has done all of these

things and yet still ended up together long-term, married or not. On the other hand, many books on relationships have cited statistics that confirm Sergio’s words. What to think, then?

And what to do?

“Society also seems to have moved from ‘we’ to ‘me’,” Sergio continued, meaning the focus on self-benefit as opposed to altruism. We now think more about self-benefit and not the benefit of the other person. True, sadly true, I think.

What is love? I asked, feeling his previous response naturally led to this. To this Sergio replies: “Well, another divorce factor is our current understanding of love. People understand it as feeling, and it’s not just a feeling. Love is what happens when the feelings go away. True love should persevere even when the initial hype of meeting someone special recedes. Love is about willful sacrifice no matter how you feel.”

It felt like divine enlightenment.

How do some people stay together for decades? They love in the way Sergio just explained, Catholic or otherwise.

But it’s time to conclude my informal study. It seems that some prerequisites to marriage include having parents whose own marriage is thriving, holding religious convictions that promote marriage, a firm morality that adds seriousness to the dating process, relative financial stability, solid plans for the future, and most importantly, a definition of love that focusses more on giving oneself and not taking.

I hope this has been helpful, everyone. It has been to me. All the same, I’ll be glad to get back to my own life after all this. If you want, please send feedback to features@mediumutm.ca. I’d love to know what you think!

Rejected fruit flies turn to booze Emily Acheson associate features editor Before you swat that little fruit fly landing on your apple, be aware that he may share at least one thing in common with humans. He might react to rejection by a female by turning to alcohol.

A recent study from a Howard Hughes Medical Institute research centre found that male fruit flies drink more alcohol when a female denies them sex. Their luckier male friends who successfully have sex show significantly less desire to chug ethanol.

The experiment sounds relatively simple. The scientists exposed male fruit flies to two different types of female fruit flies. One set of females were virgins, and the males had plenty of them to mate with.

The other set of females had already mated.

Once female fruit flies mate, they are not inclined to mate again very soon. When a male fruit fly mates with a female, he injects her with a sex peptide that affects her brain to no longer desire sex. This prevents her from mating with his competing male rivals.

When the new male fruit flies

were exposed to this second set of females, they were rejected. This meant no sex, and no “reward” experience in the brain. Weward mechanisms are well documented in the insect and human brains.

They respond to activities like sleeping, eating, and, yes, having sex. When this reward system in the fruit fly isn’t satisfied, scientists believe the fly “drowns its sorrows” the way we do: with a good, stiff drink.

The researchers connected the lack of sex with a decrease in a certain brain protein, neuropeptide F, in the rejected males’ brains.

When scientists exposed the sexually satisfied and unsatisfied males to a choice of ethanol-based and non-ethanol-based foods, the unsatisfied males went straight for the alcohol. It appeared to make up for their earlier lack of reward. The satisfied males showed no significant preference for the alcohol.

The scientists wondered whether or not manipulation of the receptors of the neuropeptide would change the flies’ behaviour. When scientists blocked the receptors in satisfied males, these males quickly turned to alcohol also. When scientists boosted the neuropeptide in unsatisfied males, their original

desire for alcohol lessened.

Is this the same for humans? Scientists say it’s still too early to tell, but it looks promising.

Past research shows human males also turn to alcohol when they’ve been rejected by a female.

Studies have also found similarities between neuropeptide F in fruit flies and a human neuropeptide, neuropeptide Y. Neuropeptide Y has already been linked to depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

If scientists successfully manipulate the brains of fruit flies to bring alcoholism under control, they may be able to eventually do this with humans as well. This could lead to a breakthrough in the treatment of alcoholism and in understanding addictions in general.

So if you ever see a fruit fly land on your Smirnoff, know that he probably just had a really bad beating to his ego, and a rotten banana just wouldn’t do.

P.S. This is my last Medium article at UTM. I have loved every minute of writing for our university, and I hope anyone who has enjoyed my articles would like to contribute to the science topics in our newspaper in the future.

03.26.2012

»

11

MEDIUM SPORTS Interim Editor » Anna Bediones

A year in review What now?

Highlighting the 2011/12 intramural season in UTM sports

Life after university for U of T varsity athletes JASON CROSS Life after playing a varsity sport can be difficult. It can be a struggle to adjust to a life without teammates to depend on without a coach to call the shots.

“We spend a lot of time together and build a bond that is often lifelasting. More importantly we start to trust each other. A football game is like a warzone, and we need to look out for our brothers on that battlefield,” says Michael Prempeh, a veteran of the Varsity Blues football team. With such strong camaraderie, it can be a shock being catapulted into a life that is often organized around solitude.

When their playing days are

over, stars are often pulled out of the spotlight and put back into the general population. But it’s not the end of their sports life; their time with a team gives them lifelong lessons they can put into action every day. Many of life’s obstacles can be tackled by the methodical approach of a sports team. “We learn that you cannot do everything by yourself. No matter the situation, you’re going to have to collaborate with people and come up with a game plan,” says Prempeh.

One thing a university career of varsity sports bestows is confidence. Just ask any sports player.

When asked if he’s prepared for life after varsity, Michael Prempeh boldly replies, “I’m ready.”

A special thank-you to our Sports contributors: Isaac Owusu, Michelle Duklas, Ingrid Meldrum, Jason Cross, and Melissa Perri

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Bird’s-eye view: watching games during a run on the RAWC’s indoor track.

ANNA BEDIONES INTERIM SPORTS EDITOR As we count down the final days of March, more commonly known as “the week from Hell”, let us take a moment to remember what life was before this awful time. For some, the journey ends here, four (or five or six) years after they first set foot on this campus. For others, it is only beginning.

When you are a student you want the days to go by quickly.

You want to fast-forward to the weekend, and then to convocation. But when you reach that final step, you realize how many things there are that you wish you still had time to do. Here we are, nearing the end of another exciting year at UTM. What do you remember?

From late nights at the RAWC watching volleyball or basketball for a free slice of pizza to sipping hot chocolate on the North or South Field watching soccer, rugby, or flag football to

catching free t-shirts and giveaways at various events, the answer is—well, everything.

Maybe you watched some Campus Rec games from the RAWC stairs connecting to the Davis Building or from the workout area upstairs. Maybe you put in a team. Maybe you played some pick-up basketball, soccer, badminton, or cricket in Gym C. Maybe you worked out upstairs or joined one of the RAWC’s fitness classes. Maybe you went for a swim in the pool or took a dip in the hot tub.

Maybe you watched sports highlights while you worked out on the treadmill, elliptical, or stationary bike.

Or all of the above, actually.

Regardless of the details, you have been a part of the athletic community whose high standards the staff and students work so hard to maintain. So before we start celebrating our departures, let’s celebrate our successes here at UTM in sports.

UTM competed in 24 U of T

intramural sports this year, netting two championship titles and seven finalists. The talent at this campus is truly noteworthy, and the community even more so.

We may lose some players to old age, but we are also constantly gaining new ones.

Cheers to a good year and to even better ones to come.

Congratulations to our athletes and students, good luck to the graduates, and welcome to all the newcomers.

CHAMPIONS: Men’s Div 1 rugby (fall) Men’s Div 1 volleyball (winter) Women’s tri-campus soccer (winter) FINALISTS: Women’s flag football (fall) Women’s soccer (fall) Men’s flag football (fall) Women’s tri-campus basketball (winter) Women’s Div 1 basketball (winter) Men’s Div 1 basketball (UTM Blue) (fall/winter) Men’s tri-campus ice hockey (winter) Men’s tri-campus cricket (winter)

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12 THE MEDIUM «SPORTS 03.26.2012

Summer at the RAWC stays as active as you

UTM provides a variety of activities during the summer season for students and community INGRID MELDRUM When taking summer courses, it can be hard to drag yourself to campus to sit in a cold classroom while everyone else is enjoying the sunshine outside. But have no fear: the RAWC has plenty to offer to get your mind off of classes—and not just indoors!

Yes, the entire facility will remain open throughout the summer session, so you can lift weights and build muscle to your heart’s content.

Also, there are still drop-in classes for anyone who has a membership, and many of the classes can be held outdoors.

Every weekday, there is pick-up soccer and ultimate frisbee on the North Field for all students and members, weather permitting. Various tournaments will be held every

Majors take the lead OHL playoffs, round 1 MELISSA PERRI In a series that began last Thursday, the Mississauga Majors went 1–1 against the Barrie Colts for the first round of the OHL Playoffs.

The matchup was interesting, considering how much has changed since last season. Although the Mississauga Majors finished the 2010/11 season first overall, the team ended this season as the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. By contrast, the Barrie Colts ended the 2010/11 season dead last in the league and surged to third in the East this season.

For the Majors to win this series, they need to look for solid play from key players: contribution to offence by Riley Brace, who has had a career season with 82 points, and defence from Leafs draft pick Stuart Percy and overage goaltender Brandon Maxwell, who was acquired from Sarnia in a January trade.

In Friday’s game Spencer Cobbold, who had missed a penalty shot in game 1, put the Majors on the board nine minutes into the first period. Percy made it 2–0 from the blue line.

The puck slid past Niederberger and a nice tip-in by Kristoff Kontos gave the Majors a 3–0 lead. A goal from Brace four minutes into the second period solidified the win at 4–0, after which the Colts substituted goaltender Niederberger for Alex Fotinos.

The Majors won 4–0, giving Maxwell the shutout. Brace tallied one goal and two assists. Ninety penalty minutes were handed out in total as the two teams roughed it out all night.

Game 3 will be on Monday in Barrie, game 4 will be on Tuesday in Mississauga, and game 5 will be on Saturday, back in Barrie.

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION/PHOTO

UTM’s summer leagues fill up quickly, attracting players from all over North America Wednesday, starting in June. These tournaments include basketball (including men’s and women’s threeon-three, bump, H.O.R.S.E., and 21), badminton, table tennis, and more.

Basketball is popular at UTM, and the summer basketball leagues are running again this year. It is open to students and community members, even if they don’t have a member-

ship at the gym. The women’s league runs on Monday evenings, and the men’s league runs on Wednesday and Thursday nights. Team and individual statistics of three-pointers,

29

dunks, points per game, and more are recorded, and there is an allstar game in addition to regular and playoff games. St. George and Scarborough also have summer leagues, and the champion team in UTM’s league gets to play in the tri-campus final, which will be hosted at UTM this year since UTM’s team won last year’s championship final. Timers and scorekeepers are needed for every game, so if you’re interested in making some extra cash, stop by the program office soon. These positions fill up quickly.

Students who are not enrolled in classes and still want to go to the gym or participate in pick-up sports and tournaments can still participate if they purchase a summer membership, which costs about $140 after taxes.

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