Vol 36 issue 8

Monday, November 9, 2009

Volume 36, Issue 8

U of T ranks no. 1 in research

Kts2 tackles gambling problem

STEFANIE MAROTTA

SUSAN SAUNDERCOOK

For the fourth consecutive year, Research Infosource Inc. ranked the University of Toronto asthe best Canadian Research University.

Research Infosource is a consulting firm that provides information for organizations related to science, technology and innovation. It ranks universities based on three categories: firstly, the amount and quality of exterior funding the university attracts; secondly, the university’s ability to publish academic findings and literature; and thirdly, the impact of the university’s published research, based on citations.

U of T not only excels in these three categories, but also provides opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students to engage in research projects with faculty.

UTM in particular is home to various research initiatives that strive to discover and distribute knowledge through work in institutes and labs.

People 18 to 24 years old are at the highest risk of developing a gambling problem. The Responsible Gambling Council (RGC) launched kts2, a new gambling problem awareness program at UTM. The RGC is an independent, non-profit organization committed to problem gambling prevention. RGC designs and delivers highly effective awareness programs, like kts2.

Created by the RGC, kts2 looks at the real chances of winning and losing, highlights signs of problem gambling, shares local problem gambling services and suggests ways to keep gambling safer. kts2 builds on the successes of RGC’s Know the Score program and incorporates social media to reach more students. kts2 has a strong online presence with a Facebook page, “travel diary” blog and interactive website where students can test their knowledge about gambling. kts2 uses Bluetooth technology to capture students’ attention within display perimeters on campus.

“It is critical that young adults who are at risk of developing a gambling problem have the knowledge and support to make informed decisions,” said Lisa Couperus, manager of Special Projects and Programs at RGC. “With this age group, connectivity is the thing. kts2 communicates in multiple, youth-friendly ways. We are always searching for novel ways to extend the reach of our messages.” kts2 offers specialized content modules so colleges and universities can customize the program on their campus. kts2 topics focus on poker, sports betting or casino gambling.

Students learned about ways to identify and avoid gambling-related problems when kts2 visited UTM on November 2 and November 3.

Research continued on page 2

Students “Trick or Eat” to fundraise for local food bank MAYA SHAHID On Halloween night, UTM monsters ran through the streets of Mississauga to scare home owners into giving food to fight hunger. The canvassing allowed many members and volunteers to get involved with the community and create friendships for a good cause. UTM Meal Exchange coordinator Anthony Simone found that many houses responded to the event by preparing bags of food for treat-a-tricking volunteers, while others went to the store to buy specifically for the cause.

A hundred students gathered at 4 p.m., campaigned around the Mississauga-Erindale community and collected over 1,800 pounds of food that will be donated to the Mississauga Food Bank and accounts for 245 meals. Throgh Meal Exchange, over 20,000 students across the nation helped to raise a total of $1,543,651 worth of food for food banks last year.

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Jason Hu/ The Medium

Students protest for lower tuition fees at the Student Day of Action November 5 in Toronto.

See story on page 3.

Tentative agreement reached

by U of T sessional faculty SAALIHA MALIK NEWS EDITOR

According to a message posted Sunday morning on the University of Toronto’s website, the University reached a “tentative agreement” with Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3902, Unit 3, and “will be operating as normal on Monday.” The Office of the Provost and the Office of the Registrar confirmed news of the tentative agreement by sending a mass email to U of T students.

The Unit posted a message on its site that read, “(…) details of [the] settlement will be available soon. The strike planned for Monday, November 9 has been averted.”

Negotiations between the union and the University have been taking place since August. A deadline was originally set for 12 a.m. on Sunday night. Had a

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bargaining agreement not been reached at that time, sessional lecturers, represented by CUPE Local 3902, would strike.

During a press conference that was held on October 28, CUPE Local 3902 revealed that sessional instructors teach about 30% of the classes at U of T and make about $15,000 annually—$1,000 less than York instructors.

During the conference, Dr. Leslie Jermyn, a representative of CUPE 3902, Unit 3, pointed out that the issues in dispute included wages, job security and support for scholarly activity and service.

“When we talk about job security, we mean a better system of hiring sessionals so that our members don’t have to re-apply for their jobs every four to eight months,” said Dr. Jermyn.“This is neither tenure nor a permanent appointment, but would allow senior sessionals some security and the ability to better plan their working and financial lives.”

Before the tentative agreement was

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reached, the UTMSU remained neutral.

In an interview with The Medium, UTMSU President Joey Santiago said that “[the Student Union] supports fair bargaining. We are seeking to educate and inform students on the details of the bargaining process and the possible strike, in hopes that everyone will be knowledgeable on the issues at hand.”

“I’m happy that there’s no strike, but I also worry about the consequences. If the sessional instructors will get paid more, will my tuition fees go up next year then?” said Abdul Farooq, secondyear Commerce student.

CUPE Local 3902, Unit 3, did not return a phone call from The Medium about the effects that a strike would have on students.

McMaster University in Hamilton faced a similar situation with its teaching assistants. After five months of negotiations, they officially went on strike on November 2. The members of CUPE Local 3906 that are on strike form part of Unit 1, which represents 2,700 TAs and research assistants.

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t h ewe a t h e r ch a n n e l . c o m

INSIDE U OF T RANKS HIGH P AG E 2 TASTING WINE IN HART HOUSE P AG E 10 UTM’S MYSTERIOUS SHACK P AG E 11 MAJORS DOMINATE BELLEVILLE P AG E 14

2 THE MEDIUM

MONDAY, NOVEMBER

9, 2009

NEWS RESEARCH AND SPEAKING GOOD Crash course on ‘how to speak good’

Career expo deemed a success by students

GURPINDER SINGH GAHEER

OVAIS SHAH

On October 26, the CCIT Council held an event called “How to speak good (well).” Professor Joan Vinall-Cox of the Professional Writing Program and Jake Dheer, station manager at Rogers TV, each gave a 20-minute presentation on how to improve on speaking and on generating speech ideas.

Students welcomed the topic. “Even though we write essays throughout university, we are never given an opportunity to learn the basics of speaking well in front of people,” said Reina Shishikura, the CCIT Council’s academic workshop director. Both speakers made one thing very clear: when you speak with passion, people will remember your message.

With Canada still recovering from the economic recession, one would expect fewer opportunities in the employment sector. Yet the Career Expo that the Career Centre held on October 27 managed to attract approximately 50 employers from diverse corporations—even in the face of a damaged economy.

Approximately 650 students attended the fair, which marked a significant increase from previous years. “The large turnout was particularly the success of our strong marketing aside from the regular poster-based advertising. The Career Centre was able to reach students via a variety of new methods such as videos, Career Expo handouts in lectures and the use of social-networking sites as Twitter and

TIPS INCLUDED:

-Avoid distracting gestures such as swaying back and forth. Don’t move too much.

-Make eye contact from person to person in a sweeping motion across the audience.

- Never stare at the floor or check out your nails.

-Speak slowly and clearly.

-If appropriate, use presentation slides.

They give the audience opportunities to read about the presented topic. “It’s the information you want to sell, not the slide,” explains Professor VinallCox, adding that each slide should have a maximum of six bullet points and no more than eight words per bullet.

-Use simple terminology. “When you write or speak, you’re not asking the audience to do the work of figuring out what you are talking about. You want to make it easier for the audience to follow your train of thought,” said Professor Vinall-Cox.

Jimmy on Facebook,” said Claire Westgate, the Career Centre’s coordinator of events and employer services, adding that the academic departments helped students plan their careers by forwarding the centre’s e-mails on academic program-specific career opportunities at the expo via the UTORmail system.

Among the major corporations that advertised their career opportunities at the Career Expo were Service Canada, Canada Revenue Agency, Canadian Forces, Celestica, City of Mississauga, ManuLife Securities, RBC Life Insurance, TD Canada Trust and GoodLife Fitness.

Stephanie Perrin, one of the representatives interviewed at the Service Canada station, which recruits students to positions in the federal, finance, transportation, health and other Government of Canada depart-

ments, said that she did not have many recent opportunities to advertise.

“Most job positions were already taken earlier in the year as that is when most of the students are trying to find sources of funding and employment. Students should be aware of the employment trends and that most of the government’s student recruitment occurs in the summer sessions. Students need to plan ahead,” said Perrin.

Aside from the employers, there was also a variety of professional associations, such as Human Resources Professional Association, Certified Management Accountants of Ontario and Certified General Accountants of Ontario.

According to Melissa McCuaig, from the Human Resources Professional Association professional associations

mostly exist to monitor rules and regulations and spread awareness of the latest trends in various professions such as human resources or accountancy. The HPRA received remarkable participation from the UTM campus; it received more membership requests at the expo than any of the previous ones that McCuaig attended.

Fourth-year Mahviah Mirz was impressed by the Career Centre and the Career Expo.

“I was never aware of the breadth of different events organized by the Career Centre, along with personalized career counseling and employment advising. The information provided by the centre is really helpful and acts as a useful on-campus resource to help upper-year students like me to start thinking of our careers before we graduate,” said Mirza.

Research rankings put U of T on top Research continued from cover One such initiative is the program on Globalization and Regional Innovation Systems (PROGRIS), co-established by UTM political science professor David Wolfe Located at the Munk Centre for International Studies at St. George, PROGRIS aims to investigate the relations between firms and institutions that promote innovation at a regional level, as well as to study how globalization affects sub-national and regional systems of government.

Another UTM-based research project is the Human Communications Lab, where faculty and students examine the connections between

sensory systems and how they affect perception and communication. The director of the lab, psychology professor Bruce Schneider, studies the operations of the auditory and visual systems and the way that knowledge and expectation affect memory encoding of associated stimuli.

Other than the many institutes that are established and run by UTM professors, many diverse r es earch projects tak e p lace on campus. These projects vary from innovations in computer technology to philosophical ethics studies and biomedical research.

Andrew Peterson, a lecturer and faculty advisor at the Department of Mathematical and Computational Sciences at UTM, worked with a

group of undergraduate students to experiment with computer processors. Peterson and his team are working to create a computer that will process information at a faster speed rather than simply run a larger number of applications.

In the natural sciences department, biology professor Marla Sokolowski conducts research on fruit flies to examine the relationship between genes and weight.

She found that a single gene affects a person’s tendency to gain a large amount of weight in the winter, then shed the pounds in the summer. This process is known as seasonal affective disorder. Fruit flies have a similar variation with the regards to this par-

ticular gene.

Sokolowski’s research aims to find treatment for weight disorders.

Professor Paul Young, vice president of research, congratulated U of T on a job well done. “It is further evidence that our research is ma king a tangible impact on global society across the disciplines in the life sciences, physical sciences, social sciences and humanities. I extend my congratulations to the U of T research community on this brilliant showing.”

UTM offers students the chance to engage in research projects through the Research Opportunity Program. Information can be found on department websites.

Campus police weekly summaries October 29, 2009 to November 4, 2009 October 29- 10:08 p.m.

Mischief under $5000 Five persons were investigated for minor mischief in the Library. Two persons were charged by Campus Police for being intoxicated in a public place.

October 30 - 1:03 a.m.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act Three non-community members were investigated for smoking marijuana outside the Student Centre.

October 30 - 9:40 a.m.

Theft under $5000 Campus Police investigated the theft of food from Mr. Sub in the Meeting Place.

October 30-4:30 p.m.

Theft under $5000 A backpack and books were stolen from a student at the CCT Building.

October 30- 11:15 p.m.

Trespass to Property Act A man tried to enter the RAWC facilities using someone else’s membership.

October 31 - 12:32 a.m.

Domestic argument C a m pu s P ol i c e i n ve s t i g a t e d a domestic argument between two students. The students were cautioned by Peel Police.

October 31 - 1:40 a.m.

Noise complaint C a m pu s P o li c e i n v e i g a t e d t w o social gatherings at McLuhan Court.

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Personal Statement Workshop

October 31- 4:05 a.m.

Noise complaint Campus Police cautioned a student for playing his stereo too loud at Erindale Hall.

October 31 - 11:03 a.m.

Trespass to Property Act A man was reported soliciting for spa memberships in the Student Centre. The report was filed one day after the actual incident.

November 1 - 3:55 p.m.

Mischief under $5,000 Campus Police investigated a driver in Lot 8. A witness reported that the driver was intentionally running over standing birds in the lot.

November 1 - 1:40 a.m.

Noise complaint

Campus Police investigated a noisy social gathering at Putnam Place.

November 2 - 11:55 p.m.

Theft under $5000 A USB key was stolen from a student at the Library.

November 2 - 3:09 p.m.

Vehicle Tow A vehicle was towed from the CCT Garage for having excessive unpaid fines.

November 3- 1:01p.m.

Theft under $5000 A parking sign at the CCT garage was stolen.

November 3- 4:38 p.m.

Theft under $5000 Campus Police investigated and recovered a stolen USB key.

November 12, 2009 2:00 - 4:00 SE 3094

Learn the HOWs and WHYs of writing good personal statements

November 3- 7:30 p.m.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act Campus Police investigated a report of two persons smoking marijuana near Roy Ivor Hall.

November 3- 8:04 p.m.

Library Code of Conduct Students were cautioned by Campus Police for being too noisy while in the Library quiet study area.

November 4- 10:30 a.m.

Motor vehicle accident A parked vehicle was damaged by another vehicle in Lot 4. Damage was light.

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TO REGISTER FOR EMPLOYER EVENTS, WORKSHOPS AND MORE, visit www.utm.utoronto.ca/careers

MONDAY, NOVEMBER

9, 2009 THE MEDIUM 3

DROP FEES RALLY NEWS

The cost of education Students from across the GTA turn out in large numbers to protest tuition fees at Queens Park OVAIS SHAH WITH NOTES FROM MAYA SHAHID

Some five hundred students gathered last Thursday, November 5, to protest against the increasing tuition fees for Ontario post-secondary institutions. The protest also aimed to fight poverty in Ontario.

The drop fees rally has been a yearly event for the past few years, with an increased emphasis since 2005, when the McGuinty government annulled the tuition fee freeze for Ontario’s post-secondary students.

“This year marks the end of the Reaching Higher Framework instituted in the past by the Ontario Government.

By bringing masses of students to the rally, we as students will ensure that tuition fee and education will be the next top election issues,” said UTMSU President Joey in a speech to students.

In the days leading up to Thursday’s

ited prominent spots on campus such as Spiegel Hall and the Meeting Place, while others dressed up in V for Vendetta masks — otherwise known as Guy Fawkes masks — that have come to symbolize the ghoul of tuition fee debt that haunts an ever-increasing number of UTM students.

On Thursday at around 11 a.m. UTM students started gathering together in the Student Centre, where various UTMSU volunteers distributed black t-shirts with a “Nov 5th Day of Action — Drop Fees” slogan. They also distributed free pizza paid for by the student’s union.

Schoolbuses carried students to the Convocation Hall at the St. George campus where they met with fellow students from other U of T satellite campuses and madetheir collective way down to Queen’s Park and other government buildings to protest the increasing tuition fees.

The unity of the student body is reflected by the diversity of sources that helped the students in their cause to

Laura Chiovitti/The Medium

Protesters enter Kings College Circle at St.George events, students gathered in the CCIT lower tuition fees. Banners of various building and signed a petition that repre- UTM student societies, such as the sented their gross-debt. UTMSU volun- Pakistan Students Association, Tamil teers also engaged in a public-education Student’s Association and OUT@UTM, campaign whereby various members vis- could be seen amid the crowd.

Laura Chiovitti/The Medium

On the day of the rally, UTM Academic Dean Gage Averill encouraged “faculty to be as flexible as possible in accommodating students for the day in order to allow as many students to board the buses to Queen’s Park.” In the light of the administrative instructions, many professors’ rescheduled tests, provided make-up labs and quizzes and discounted any participation grades for students attending the rally.

On the days following the rally, U of T Provost Professor Cheryl Misak released a memo with the University’s official policy on the Nov 5 Day of Action. The memo said, “Not all of the student demands are consistent with our own approaches; nonetheless we have a common interest in furthering strong governmental support for the universities and colleges.”

To maintain the University’s academic integrity and its high academic standards, students attending the rally were exempted only if they signed the UTMSU online rally participation form with a list of the courses they would

How much UTMSU spent on the rally

Students gather by the Student Centre on November 5 missing. The UTMSU also helped in the a Uof T sessional instructors strike loomeffort by distributing out sheets that dis- ing over our heads, which would disrupt played a list of particular courses whose my courses and diminish teaching qualiinstructors had made special exemp- ty for which I have paid a lot of tuition.” tions.

According to the latest Statistics “People have multiple jobs, and it’s Canada report, an average Ontario stuhard to make education attainable in the dent faces some of the highest tuition tough economy,” said Sarah Minhas, a fees and fastest tuition hikes compared to student at the rally. other comparable provinces such as “I’m just shocked at the sheer number British Columbia and Quebec. of problems that trouble students today.

First, we as students have so much OSAP loans with increasing tuition fees,” said Mahvish Mirza, a fourth-year History of Watch videos of the Religions and Psychology student. “On protest on our website top of that, the government makes things worse for us. Now, we are hearing about

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NEWS

MONDAY,

NOVEMBER 9, 2009

REMEMBER THE NOTICES

Halloween pub night a treat Students celebrated the spookiest night of the year at the annual Halloween pub night

“I won’t be happy about the strike at all. Nothing should interupt my academics.”

KATHERINE LUCZYNSKI

The Blind Duck pub’s latest annual Halloween Bash saw a full house on the night of October 29 as vampires, fairies, naughty schoolgirls, Star Trek characters, sailors, nerds, and flappers filled a dance floor decorated with black and orange balloons, gravestones and other “creepy” decorations.

With doors opening at 10 p.m., students wishing to bypass the line were asked to bring in a non-perishable food item to be donated to the Meal Exchange’s Trick or Eat initiative.

Music was provided by DJ Peter Kash of Z103.5.

Event organizers set up a photo area in the Presentation Room for those who wished to have their pictures taken. Dancing started around 11 p.m. and continued on throughout the night as disguised bartenders served drinks.

Students sporting green wristbands were invited on stage to compete in a costume challenge. Kash oversaw the contest with comments such as “UTM is blind,” when referring to students who wore wrist bands that were a colour other than green, and “Stop interrupting, I’m trying to do something here,” when students attempted to report lost items.

Attendees were asked to applaud for their favourite female, male and couple or group costumes. In the end, Jacquelyn Bourgeois as Lady Gaga, Kyle Heeley as Jack from The Nightmare Before Christmas (stilts and white skeletal head included), and Marc Bressler, Kristian Jurlewicz, Thinesh Sellathurai and Carson Leung as The Wizard of Oz foursome (The Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion and Dorothy) were deemed the winners. Each group picked up a $150 prize.

Some of the night’s most unique costumes included a pairing of Taylor Swift and Kanye West, a twister board game, three girls dressed as braces, B1 and B2 of the children’s show

“How would you react if the sessional faculty at U of T went on strike?”

Balami Agube 1st year Psychology

“I support the cause but I wouldn’t support the strike if classes were canceled.”

Laura Walkling 3rd year English

“I support fair bargaining for sessional faculty. It seems that a strike is possible for U of T.” Simran Dhaliwal 4th year Neurobiology

“I’m against the strike, I hope it doesn’t come down to that.”

Lubo Krupa 2nd year Commerce

Jason Hu/ The Medium

Kyle Heeley as Jack from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Bananas in Pajamas, Sailor Mars, Halloween Pub tickets went on sale Pikachu and Sally and Jack from The a week prior at 10 a.m. and sold out Nightmare Before Christmas. within two hours.

T he f ou rt h an n ua l Li gh t th e Night event was held last Thursday evening to raise awareness about violence aga inst women .

According to Statistics C an a da , w om e n be tw e en 1 4 a nd 2 4 e xp e r ie n ce t h e hi g h es t r a t e s o f se x u a l a s s a u lt . E v e n th ou gh rep ort ed ca ses of vi o lence against women have bee n d ecli ning som ewhat si nce 199 3, wom en are st ill far m ore l ik e l y to b e s t al k e d, a s s au l te d , or even kille d tha n men .

Notice of Rememberance Day Observance At 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 11, members of UTM will again observe Remembrance Day at the flagstaff in front of the South Building.

The ceremony will begin at 10:45 a.m. with remarks by Vice President & Principal Ian Orchard, followed by the reading of “In Flanders Fields” by UTMSU President Joey Santiago and the traditional two minutes of silence in commemoration of those who died in past wars.

In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will be held in the Meeting Place, South Building.

Notice of shuttle bus service change

Edward Cai/ The Medium

WGS Action Group mem b e r s p u t o n a B a k e S a l e i n th e Students Center l to ra ise funds for the Credit Valle y Hospital. By the end of the 200 9 2 010 aca dem ic y ear , the action gr oup aims to raise a t le a s t $ 2 0 00 . 0 0 f o r eq u i pm e n t for the ped iat ric s un it. The total for the bake sale was please. $756.27.

Members include Leslie Nichols, Ashley Yoannou, K r i s t in a Terpoy,Jen Lasachuk, Eve Dufour, V e r o n i c a Ma r c h u k , A m a n d a M o u n t a in , Ka n i c a C o s h al , a n d Carla Barbonell.

Jen Lasachuk/The Medium

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WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2009 Hart House Circle traffic will be closed to all traffic including the UTM shuttle bus. All pick ups and drop offs will be temporarily moved to convocatation hall from 9:15 a.m. 11:55 a.m.

Pick ups and drop offs will resume at Hart House Circle with the 12:15 p.m. departure.

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER

9, 2009

TUITION FEES OPINION

Guest Editorial

A busy week ALAIN LATOUR EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

I’ve never found it particularly hard to come up with a topic for my editorials.

This week I found the opposite: I have too many topics. I partially addressed this problem by asking Vlad Glebov, former vice-president of the Student’s Administrative Council, to write an oped (for the uninitiated, an op-ed is an opinion piece by a writer usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board). Glebov’s would also be one of very few, if not the first, op-eds to be published in these pages. I also asked Michael Di Leo, our Arts Editor, to write a commentary piece to balance Mr.Glebov’s.

Mr. Di Leo believes, as do I, that tuition fees are not such a bad thing. Mr. Di Leo and I also believe that the November 5 student protests are, in the best case scenario, a waste of time and money — the two very things that free higher education would supposedly save.

Mr. Glebov, on the other hand, probably doesn’t agree with either Mr. Di Leo or me. I say this not only because he is a former vice-president of the University of Toronto’s Student Union at UTM or because he led many protests himself. I say “probably” because, as I write these lines, I still haven’t read his piece. This is how I hope to conduct future opinion pieces: there will be one piece representing one point of view and another opposing the same view. I will not let the author of either piece read in advance what the other has written, nor will I edit or otherwise improve either piece, thus preserving The Medium’s integrity as well as its respect for the beliefs and opinions of others.

The fact that Michael and I happen to agree on the topic of tuition fees is pure coincidence. Despite what some people may think, we at The Medium do not all think alike. In fact, I am quite sure that my point of view on certain topics would differ from what several of my editors think. It’s therefore likely that one day I will agree with the opinion of an op-ed’s

author rather than with my editor’s. And that will be fine.

The topic of the November 5 thus taken care of, I still have another very important matter to write about: the sessional instructor’s strike. Just this morning, before I left for the office, I checked online and learned, much to my relief, that the strike had been averted.

I suppose I should be grateful. Instead I can’t help wondering what the University had to concede to. As one student that we interviewed today said, “What are the University’s concessions going to cost me?”

A difficult question to answer, mostly because as of press time neither party has released much information. I’m certain, however, that the cost, whatever that may be, is most likely a lot lower than the one we would have paid had there been a strike. Look what happened to York when it was shut down by its local union. For all we know, it’d still be closed if it weren’t for the Province’s back-to-work legislation.

I also suspect many sessional instructors are relieved. I’ve heard of more than one who said they didn’t want to go on strike. The ones I personally know enjoy the job, and although I couldn’t bring myself to ask them this question, I do wonder how much their often-touted salary of $15,000 a year really comes to on a per hour basis, especially considering that those hours are part-time, which enables sessional instructors to do other jobs. I can guess, but I don’t know for sure. CUPE 3902, Unit 3 never returned my phone call about what how they thought the strike would affect us students.

At any rate, we’ll know more this week.

The last topic I wanted to touch upon is Remembrance Day, when we commemorate the sacrifices made by civilians and soldiers alike in times of war, specifically since the First World War. I feel Remembrance Day has gotten very little attention lately. Sure, we know a lot about the November 5 protest and about the strike, but what about the men and women who died so that today we could worry about demanding more money, either in the form of a higher salary or through eliminated tuition fees?

Op-Ed Keep fighting the good fight VLAD GLEBOV As a former student leader at UTM, I’ve had an opportunity to take part in several student demonstrations similar to the one that took place last week. Students are often criticized for being too apathetic and disconnected with the political process. Indeed, voter apathy among youth is evident even in the student union elections that take place every year, usually around February. However, the students who took part in last week’s demonstration achieved something that day. They proved that they are not apathetic, and they proved that they are willing to fight for what they believe in even if it means marching outside through the freezing rain. Now that the demonstration is over, what happens next? I am here to suggest to all those who took part and to those that didn’t that demonstrations are not a means to an end but merely the

beginning. Our political system is designed to give every citizen the opportunity to shape the policies of our government through the democratic process.

Democracy requires citizens to be engaged and remain active and youth must always be involved in that process.

The values that students develop through their engagement in political involvement such as demonstrations are important because it can lead towards a more active participation in the democratic process.

The alternative is cynicism and that can only lead to more apathy and disengagement. As we’ve seen in Barack Obama’s election, youth can be a powerful voice inside a political party and that can mean the difference between winning and losing. In politics, change is shaped by the people that are involved in the democratic process. You may not win every battle and it may take longer than you initially expected but you can and will make a difference if you continue to stay engaged.

Displeased with drop fees MICHAEL DI LEO

I am writing to you in light of recent events – the Drop Fees rally in particular. As I was riding the shuttle bus home to Toronto one evening, an exstudent union president, Walied Khogali, made an impromptu announcement regarding the library implementing the new 24/5 schedule and, more importantly, the upcoming Drop Fees rally at Queen’s Park.

I am all for getting the word out on the library’s new hours—it is an essential service that we as students pay for every year and we should be updated as to its schedule. But the fact that Walied tried to sell students on the Drop Fees rally seemed inappropriate and came across as hypocritical. As I tried to understand why I felt this way, it dawned on me—the student union, regardless of the student vote behind them—remains a (governmental arm) of UTM, much like the school’s administration.

Let me clarify: both UTMSU and the UTM Administration are given a certain amount of funding every year (paid by students and the provincial government) and both decide what to do with it on the basis of student satisfaction. Of course, you can argue that the Administration has more on their mind than only the students (professors, TAs, building management, investments, etc.) but at the end of the day, the sole purpose of both these organizations is to improve the quality of education at the University of Toronto.

That being said, I find it difficult to understand why the UTMSU holds the administration responsible for the high fees students pay. It seems obvious that if we were to pay lower fees, we would lose funding in certain areas that (as the library situation has already proven) we would also be upset about. The issue of mismanagement of the University’s finances would no doubt lead to stern criticism of any mismanagement of UTMSU’s finances (see “The cost of education” on page 3), which seems just as important.

Another argument made is that the provincial government should invest more in students’ education. This does sound nice I must admit, but it is also difficult for students to understand the repercussions of this additional funding. Just like the UTMSU and U of T administration, the Government of Ontario has a budget, and any additional spending on education will inevitably lower spending on other important services. Either that or it will increase taxes – which seems okay until you have to pay more income and property tax, and fewer investments are made in Ontario businesses.

Again, the issue of financial mismanagement is summoned – take for example the recent $1 billion eHealth scandal. Why couldn’t that money be used towards paying students’ fees?

Simple. Because everything is that easy in hindsight.

This leads me to question the purpose of the Drop Fees march on Queen’s Park. It seems to me that other than solidifying the solidarity between marching students (a sort of extended frosh week) the march does little in the way of actually affecting the amount we students pay or in changing the University and province’s stance on the subject— all of this coming at a high price . The Canadian Federation of Students’

successes in other provinces have yet to be replicated in Ontario and it is clear that the current administration is unable (often confused with unwilling) to change their stance on tuition freezes.

Many of you will remember the exact same protest was held last year —same logo, same organization, same fervor—but I have yet to hear of any tangible results that were a direct result of the march. As an average student, I should be made aware not only of the problem of high student fees, but also what my student union or university administration has done and will continue to do to help my cause. It seems unreasonable that a march that has contributed very little to nothing in fighting high fees should be used as an example of progress.

Having the march a second time seems even more unreasonable. It is not as if David Naylor is peering down from his ivory tower for the first time, realizing that all students want to pay less. It is not as if they forgot about our discontent, or decided that we are not worth their while.

More likely, it’s because they are in a situation where they cannot reduce tuition fees regardless of harsh criticism from students.

If the goal of the rally on Queen’s Park was to make a spectacle then they have certainly succeeded. There has been coverage of the protest through all forms of media, including this newspaper. But if the goal was to have a definite effect on the premiums we students pay, then I feel the efforts put forth were misguided.

Instead, I offer an alternative solution—one shrouded in transparency.

It seems that the Government of Ontario and U of T administration do not respond favorably to name calling and slurs shouted at them at student protests. Nor do they appreciate or reply to hate mail and other similar tactics. So why don’t we sit down with the administration and discuss the problems at hand—much like what happened with the library debate.

At the very least, if the administration is unwilling to cooperate with the proposed tuition freezes, they will give specific reasons as to why this is the case. We can take these reasons and work on disproving them or finding alternate solutions. But hopefully, we will be able to give the administration ideas on how to keep tuition fees in balance. Yelling is not productive, but showing the administration specifically where, in their yearly budget, we can save money for students, is. In other words, we have to work with the University to make progress.

More importantly, the student body should be made more aware of how our fees are spent and whether or not services provided to them are necessary. Again, to use the example of the library, it is without a doubt that many students would be unwilling to deem any services unnecessary.

To them I say: this is not a one-way street. In order to drop fees we have to sacrifice services that we have become accustomed to. Inevitably this will lower the quality of education and the standing of the University of Toronto. The world isn’t fair, but is this really a tradeoff you’re willing to make?

(FULL DISCLOSURE: Michael Di Leo is the Arts Editor of The Medium and his opinions do not necessarily reflect those of The Medium or its staff.)

www.mediumonline.ca MEDIUM II PUBLICATIONS 3359 Mississauga Road, Room 200, Student Centre, Mississauga, ON, L5L 1C6 Phone: 905.828.5260 Fax: 905.828.5402 Advertising: 905.828.5379 EDITOR IN CHIEF Alain Latour editor@mediumonline.ca NEWS EDITOR Saaliha Malik news@mediumonline.ca A&E EDITOR Michael Di Leo arts@mediumonline.ca ASSISTANT A&E Nives Hajdin FEATURES EDITOR Amir Ahmed features@mediumonline.ca SPORTS EDITOR Andrew Tysiak sports@mediumonline.ca COPY EDITOR Su Lyn Liew PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Matthew Filipowich photos@mediumonline.ca COMPOSITE EDITOR Matthew Filipowich WEBMASTER Matthew Filipowich DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Heather Friesen BUSINESS MANAGER Romano Bergic BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chris Cauchi, Paul Donaghue, Ali Kasim, Kristian Jurlewicz, Aly Khan Madhavji, Paola Savasta.

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COPYRIGHT All content printed in The Medium is the sole property of its creators, and cannot be used without written consent.

DISCLAIMER Opinions expressed in the pages of The Medium are exclusively of the author and do not neces sarily reflect those of The Medium. Additionally, the opin ions expressed in advertise ments appearing in The Medium are those of advertisers and not of The Medium.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters to the editor will be edit ed for spelling, grammar, style and coherence. Letters will not exceed 1,000 words in print.

Letters that incite hatred, vio lence or letters that are racist, homophobic, sexist or libelous will not be published.

Anonymous letters will not be published.

THIS ISSUE’ S CONTRIBUTORS Stephanie Marotta, Maya Shahid, Susan Saunderbrook, Hai Bao, Ovais Sha, Raisa Palha, Grant Daniels, Gordon Freeman, David Gunn, Shaista Khan,Sarah Malagerio Bruno, William

6 THE MEDIUM

MONDAY, NOVEMBER

9, 2009

Michael Di Leo, Editor | arts@mediumonline.ca

The Walkerton tragedy of errors Third year Theatre and Drama students present Don’t Drink the Water NIVES HAJDIN ASSISTANT A&E EDITOR

Last week the ensemble at Theatre Erindale delivered another outstanding performance, this time with the flourishing talents of third year Theatre and Drama students. Don’t Drink the Water is a tragic account of the 2000 Walkerton scandal in which thousands of unsuspecting people fell ill from contaminated water.

Masterfully directed by Suzanne Bennett and Marc Richard, the adaptation draws from Brenda Lee Burke’s “Don’t Drink the Water: The Walkerton Tragedy,” a collection of detailed reports given by the townsfolk that highlight the rapid spread of the E. coli bacteria throughout the entire community, as well as the infections, deaths, farcical inquiry and the lack of answers that resulted.

Under a single spotlight, each of the residents address the audience with a personal account of how the disease has affected their lives and those of their loved ones. Meanwhile, more bodies take the stage and surround them, hissing and tossing the townsfolk around as if they were ragdolls. The residents are pushed towards the well, just as the contaminated water was pushed onto them through human carelessness and a disregard for the community’s wellbeing. The blame falls on many people, most notably the men in charge of Walkerton’s water supply who knowingly dug wells in contaminated lands, but failed to take any action

Michael Di Leo picks the...

when they realized that cow manure had trickled into the town’s water supply.

The hissing phantasms then transformed into political representatives in support of Ontario’s “pure water.”

They provided sporadic news updates to the public about the latest developments with the E. coli outbreak, most of which arrived too late.

More intermittent, recurring features include the trio of journaslists singing “Don’t Drink the Water,” as well as the interpretive dancing of the townsfolk as they give their thoughts on the way things are handled. The situation then takes an embarrassing turn for the worst when the government, media, and public interests clash in Walkerton.

The government’s failure to take responsibility and the constant pointing of fingers during the inquiry creates a tragic and farcical rendering of Walkerton, and a circus performance literally ensues.

Don’t Drink the Water brilliantly captures the grave nature of the Walkerton tragedy, but also incorporates tasteful humour in various situations. One such moment is when the three hand-washing experts (Kelsey Jenkins, Hallie Seline, Meghan Barron) burn their hands in bleach as an alternative to the water, or when Paolo Santalucia and Matthew Gin gallop across the stage in bovine attire with signs that read “don’t blame the cow.”

A particularly memorable scene occurs between Premier Mike Harris (Andrew Soutter) and the mayor of Walkerton (Stacey Arseneau) when

the premier cannot provide the mayor with any information and reacts without urgency. On a surface level, the exchange is hilarious when the premier can’t even remember the name of the town and refers to it as Wiarton or Wichita. However, there is obviously a more serious aspect, in that the premier shows a complete lack of concern for the situation at hand and fails to acknowledge that something has gone horribly wrong.

Soutter exemplifies the cluelessness of the government and its reluctance to address the issue and take responsibility for fear of being blamed.

Sheelagh Daly delivers a particularly emotional performance as the mother of an infected boy, and greatly captures the despair that the entire community experiences. Many of the

actors and actresses take on multiple roles including Kathryn Alexandre and Tasha Potter as personifications of the bacteria, as well as Alexandre’s realistic portrayal the indifferent host of “A Touch of Health with Christine McPhee” and Potter’s engaging depiction of an E. coli specialist educating the audience about the bacteria. The duo of Santalucia and Gin had great moments in their multiple roles, showcasing their comical abilities as well as their great talent in the non-verbal expression of their feelings. Julian Munds’ role as the out-of-the-loop Prime Minister Jean Chrétien showed a similarly believable lack of concern, but his role as the profiteering doctor of “Oil of Oregano,” a medically untested bacteria treatment, greatly

Jim Smagata/Theatre Erindale

The townspeople are trapped again in the media circus all around them.

brought to light the agendas of people looking to benefit from the tragedy, such as those in the media hoping to further their journalistic careers.

The media’s insensitivity for those who suffered was brought to the forefront, and instead of searching for ways to rectify the situation, they exploited it. Munds’ portrayal of the ring leader completely transformed the mood of the theatre into an actual circus ring. The ensemble treated the audience to a cabaret-style performance with a song entitled “The Blame Game,” which underscored the handling of the Walkerton tragedy as it was turned into a spectacle, and the residents of the town into a freakshow. The elaborate performance was enhanced by the flashy costumes and makeup, but came to life with the swinging trapeze, aerial acrobatics, the illusion of tight-rope walking on a balance beam, and circus-themed music.

Don’t Drink the Water sheds light on one of Canada’s worst crises, and the fact that the residents of Walkerton will never trust tap water again. The town’s solidarity was never broken, but trust was lost in the clean water that they once took for granted. The Walkerton Tragedy is a typical example of how human error can cause complete chaos, and turn out to be an even greater detriment than nature itself.

The play runs for the remainder of the week. Contact Theatre Erindale at 905-569-4369 for tickets, or visit www.theatreerindale.com for more information.

Style in focus: part two We pick the top seven winter trends for women SAALIHA MALIK NEWS EDITOR

“You’re the One that I Want”

by Danielle Duval Montreal songstress remakes the classic Grease hit in her own fashion, throwing in elements of blues, country, and gospel for good measure. myspace.com/danielleduval

1. BOYFRIEND BLAZER Why it works: The “boyfriend blazer” has become this season’s hottest trend.

Almost every fashion store you walk into now has their version of this timeless piece. What’s great about this blazer is that it doesn’t have to be fitted; it has the fit of a guy’s blazer with a stylish cut to compliment women of any body type. It is appropriate to wear to work, class and if paired with the right accessories, it can add flair to your outfit for a night out.

How to wear it: The reason this blazer has become so popular is its versatility.

There are several ways to wear it this season, so here are a few Do’s and Don’ts to remember: Do wear them with skinny jeans. Don’t wear them with flared or wide leg pants.

Do wear them with this season’s hottest leggings. Don’t actually wear your boyfriend’s blazer, because it won’t work. Do wear it with a mini dress for a

perfect balance of sexy and chic. Do spice up this look with a trendy scarf on a cold day.

Where to get it: H&M, Forever 21, ZARA 2. STRONG SHOULDERS Why it works: Everyone needs a pair of strong shoulders, especially for this season’s edgy 80s look. Inspired from the 80s’ shoulder pad days, this season is all about showing confidence.

Whether you choose a dress, sweater or jacket with strong shoulders, the tip of the shoulder should have a rise with embellishments to give your look a feminine flare.

How to wear it: Balance the strong shoulders with slim fitting pants or leggings.

3. OVER-THE-KNEE BOOTS Why it works: This fancy footwear is this winter’s must have shoe trend. This look grazed runways during fashion weeks around the globe. They may not be your everyday shoe but don’t you think they would look amazing?

How to wear it: Wearing this is easier than it looks. You can pull them off with skirts, skinny jeans and try it with this season’s boyfriend blazer to keep your

body looking long and lean.

Where to get it: Aldo, Steve Madden 4. CREATIVE TIGHTS Why it works: Tights aren’t only to keep you warm during the winter. Ones that have details on them can be the perfect accessory to complete your look. This season’s hottest tights trends are lace and bold colours.

How to wear it: Opt for neutral and dark colors as your main outfit choice. This way, you can show off your bright tights without overdoing it in the colour department.

Where to get it: H&M, Aldo Accessories 5. BIG SCARVES Why it works: Big scarves are by far this season’s easiest and most comfortable trend. Scarves no longer just protect us from the cold winter days — they have become our favourite (and warmest) fashion accessory.

How to wear it: Scarves can be worn without hats to make them the focus of your winter ensemble. Stick to simple patterns and knits.

Where to get it: Urban Outfitters, H&M 6. TIERED MINI SKIRT

Why it works: This skirt is the perfect combination between feminine and classy. The antique colour keeps it sophisticated and pretty.

How to wear it: This skirt looks fantastic against black tights and it works great with the boyfriend blazer. For a daytime look you can always wear it with flats and switch to heels if you’re going out.

Where to get it: H&M 7. LEATHER JACKETS Why it works: All you need to do is invest in a good leather jacket to add rock and roll to your everyday outfit.

The leather jacket is by far the trendiest jacket of the season. It comes in many different styles, from vintage to rocker chic — but they all work as long as it’s fitted.

How to wear it: Opt for a dark shade of either black or brown. You can wear it with any outfit to add edge to your look.

Make your look fun and feminine by pairing your leather jacket with a feminine dress. The leather jacket works best with a great pair of boots and skinny jeans.

Where to get it: Guess, Mango, Bedo

MONDAY, NOVEMBER

9, 2009 THE MEDIUM 7

8 THE MEDIUM

MONDAY, NOVEMBER

9, 2009

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT

A DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO THE HISTORY, THE MUSIC, AND THE EXPERIENCE THAT IS USS

BY MICHAEL DI LEO

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MATTHEW FILIPOWICH

MONDAY, NOVEMBER

9, 2009 THE MEDIUM 9

UBIQUITOUS SYNERGY SEEKER ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT

A

s h B u c h h o lz a nd J a s on Parsons aren’t afraid to admit that they tend to be overly-energetic.

“You know what would be really challenging for me?” asks Buckholz. “To be in a room of ice skyscrapers — you know, skyscrapers made of ice, like models — and try to have a conversation surrounded by them.” “I would not move,” adds Parsons, “yeah, it would be like SHHH [makes glasscrashing sound].”

This doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has seen these two play live. Under the moniker Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker (which, as Parsons explains, is more of a “feeling” than a label), or USS for short, the duo possess more spirit and drive than most bands would like to admit to. Perhaps it is a faction of the kind of music they play — a rhythmic mélange of electronic, rock and reggae, courtesy of Parsons DJing and Buchholz’s impassioned guitar playing — which inevitably leads to their charged performances, or, more likely, it is caused by their largerthan-life personalities.

Case in point: the Canadian Music Week Indie Awards, March 14 2009. As one of the guests performin g a t t h e e v e n t , US S t o o k every liberty in making sure no one would forget their set. Amid pulsating smoothies, a stage littered in caution tape, and life-size cardboard cutouts of Barack Obama and Albert Einstein, USS delivered a performance that was unparalleled in its high-energy/high-entertainment value, and remains one of the most ridiculous (in the best way) sets ever witnessed.

“A big part of the concept [of our performances] is obviously energy, but also neo-vaudevillian — because you can do whatever you want, it doesn’t matter, and be crazy, and try to pump up the

crowd. We’ve been to enough shows to learn the craft and know how to do it best based on the style of songs we play and how we perform them,” explains Parsons (stage name: “Human Kebab”).

Buckholz agrees, but takes the explanation one step further.

“We’re both absurdly inspired by athletics, both having come from an athletic background, and, like that, it took a lot of persistence and a lot of discipline to get where we are.”

That same athletic background paved the way for the group’s formation. Originally called Team of Captains, Buchholz and Parsons derived their name from the fact that “something ridiculous like 22 out of 25 players on the Canadian Junior team that year were assistant or team captains.”

Team of Captains, as Buchholz explains, was a blessing in disguise.

“There was an absolute destiny

“It’s almost like raising a child, you know, it felt like we spent so much time just being good parents to this art that it raised itself, and is now just realizing how expensive cheese is at the grocery store.”

Ash Buchholz involved… We kind of just smashed into each other.” “It was like primal ice cream,” adds Parsons. “Yeah.”

Buchholz and Parsons originally met while working at the same golf course, and the two hit it off immediately after becoming aware of each other’s musicality. After Buchholz suggested to his sister that Parsons be the DJ at her wedding, the two began experimenting musically.

“A funny story of what drew us closer is when I was at “Jake’s” on Main Street in Unionville one evening and I saw [Buchholz] across the patio,” recalls Parsons.

“He recognized me and came over and he’s like ‘I feel like I’ve known you for ten thousand years’ and he handed me a business card that was basically the Ontario health card but he made it look like Ol’Dirty Bastard’s first album cov er.” “ S emin a l a l bum, by t h e way,” chirps Buchholz.

“And he sat down and gave me the card and said ‘So I was in the library today and I figured out why asparagus makes your urine smell.’

That was his opening.”

“Mercaptan,” concludes Buchholz.

After a name and lineup change, USS was born. Buchholz and Parsons continued to experiment musically, mostly in the domains of mixing and what Buchholz refers to as “garage rap,” which eventually led to the sound for which they are well known for today. It seemed only natural then when USS decided to produce an EP that featured some of the material they had been working on — the very radio-friendly Welding the C:/ (pronounced C drive). “[Our proudest moment] was when our EP found its way into the hands of Barry Taylor at The Edge,” says Parsons, referring to the EP’s heavy rotation on the Toronto radio station. “Things like that don’t really happen anymore.”

Buchholz is almost nostalgic.

“It’s almost like raising a child, you

know, it felt like we spent so much time just being good parents to this art that it raised itself, and is now just realizing how expensive cheese is at the grocery store.”

Before making it big on the airwaves, Parsons and Buchholz worked just like the rest of us. “I still flat roof occasionally,” explains Parsons, “but [Buchholz] can’t because of his knee.” Oddly enough, Parsons first caught wind of the success of Welding the C:/ and its lead-in single “Hollowpoint Sniper Hyperbole” while working on an oil pipeline in Alberta. But both agree that supporting themselves financially through their music and not having to roof during the winter remains one of the most vindicating experiences for them.

W

ith the success of their EP and the reputation it built them in such a short amount of time came offers for the duo to produce a full-length debut.

Parsons and Buchholz fielded bids from several labels but decided instead to sign with Smashing World Records who, along with help from 102.1 The Edge and former Team of Captains bandmate Charles Topping, produced their debut album, Questamation, which came out in March of this year.

“Our album isn’t necessarily being projected at the part of your brain that understands rationale,” explains Buchholz. Questamation is full of trademark USS two-step rhythms and frequent eclecticisms that will keep you on your toes, not to mention its high danceability

factor. “If you feel it you feel it, and you get it. If you don’t you will probably hate it. It doesn’t have to be right or wrong, but if the cog is ready for the right cog to fit and it fits, it definitely gives it a special quality.”

“Laces Out” and “Anti-Venom,” the lead singles from Questamation, showcase the band’s ability to create distinct pop tunes.

By overlaying the strong beats with grungy guitars, various synths, and Buchholz’s memorable melodies, USS manages not only to create a tightly-knit patchwork of genres, but one that has universal appeal.

On any given night you will hear USS blasting from Queen West nightclubs, to rock radio stations, to white-collar corporate parties, to low-riders’ stereos. The common denominator: everyone can move to USS. Which is why in May, when USS played a packed show at the Sound Academy in Toronto, it was difficult to tell what demographic the band was aiming at. There were the obvious twenty-something-yearold concert whores and the less cool, forty-something-year-old midlife-crisis-ers, but there were also preteens, highschoolers, cheerleader troupes, b-boys, football players, contest winners, and old guys. No other circumstance would bring these people together.

Like their show at the Indie Awards two months prior, Buchholz and Parsons were up to their usual tricks — mainly smoothie-blending and handstandrecord-scratching — but there was a different feel this time around, a maturity, almost.

It was as if they had since realized how lucky they were, surrounded by their overwhelmingly wide range of fans, playing the music that had got them so far and given them so much.

“Now the attitude is that if it ends tonight, let’s just high five and go to the library tomorrow.”

10 THE MEDIUM MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2009

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT DRINK OF THE GODS

Liquor is quicker, but wine is fine Taking a look at the second event in the Hart House Tasting Series, “Pinot Noir” with winemaker Norman Hardie ALAIN LATOUR EDITOR IN CHIEF

It’s Thursday evening and I’m in the cramped Music Room of Hart House where I had come to write about a pinot noir tasting event. The Medium’s photo editor, Matthew Filipowich, leans toward me and asks “You sure this should go in Arts? It’s more of a Features piece.” That makes sense, but as winemaker Norman Hardie will prove to us during the evening, winemaking in general — and Pinot Noir winemaking in particular — is really an art form.

We sit with some 60 wine aficionados at long tables table, each with five wineglasses and trays of cheeses and breadsticks in front of us, to learn about pinot noir. Pinot noir gained popularity in North America after the movie Sideways came out. If wine is elusive, pinot noir is superlatively elusive. Sensitive to light and soil types, highly reflective of its terroir and susceptible to bunch rot, downy mildew and leaf roll, pinot noir grapes are so difficult to grow that they prompted André Tchelistcheff to proclaim, “God made Cabernet Sauvignon, whereas the devil made pinot noir.”

Tchelistcheff should know, not just because he’s been dead for the last 15 years, but because he’s also considered one of America’s most influential winemakers.

The difficulty in growing the pinot noir grape translates into a similar difficulty while tasting the wine. It has a tremendously broad range of bouquets, flavours and impressions, often confusing tasters and prompting Master Sommelier Madeline Triffon to call it “sex in a glass.”

Maybe that helps to explain why, like Hardie says, it’s over once you are bitten by pinot — you’re hooked.

To guide the audience through pinot noir’s range, Hardie offered five samples from five different countries, ranging from a French 2005 Nicolas Potel Vielles Vignes Morey-SaintDenis, to a Santa Barbara 2007 Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir, and ending with his own 2007 Cuvee L Pinot Noir, which earned a rating of 91 in Tony Aspler’s newsletter.

The event is the second in the 2009 Hart House Tasting Series. In addition to Hardie, the event features Afrim Pristine of the Cheese Boutique. Pristine brings, among other treats, duck rillettes and duck prosciutto, clochette cheese (of Ratatouille fame) and a Thunder Oak gouda cheese that Toronto Life once listed as number three in a list of a hundred things to try before you die.

I’m glad I now have only 99 left.

I’m also glad I have Norman Hardie to guide us through the wine sampling. Hardie loves what he does. He’s not loud or boastful about it. Neither is he a snob — tonight he wears jeans, a chambray shirt wit rolled-up

sleeves, and a black, long-sleeved undershirt. “I spend a lot of time in refrigerated rooms,” Hardie explains.

He’s tall and heavy and imposing, a man in his early mid-forties with a slight Afrikaans accent that he must have worked hard not to lose in all his years in Canada. His clean-shaven broad face glows red, and for a moment I picture gallons of wine drunk over the course of a lifetime.

But then I notice his thick forearms, red as his face, and I see years spent in the field and under the sun. His hands move about with surgical precision, like a watchmaker’s, or perhaps like someone who was a mime at

some point. They touch invisible grapes as he muses on pinot, they pinch imaginary dirt as he describes the clay-and-limestone-rich soils of his winery, and they caress coastlines as he describes the region of Galpin Peak in South Africa, an unexpectedly cool area where pinot noir grapes grow surrounded by a white sharkinfested ocean.

Before Hardie became a winemaker, he worked as the head Sommelier and then general manager at Truffles at the Toronto Four Seasons hotel. He left in the 1990s, returning to his country of birth, South Africa, to learn the ropes of winemaking. He

Matthew Filipowich/The Medium

The spread at the Pinot Noir event. The Hart House Tasting Series runs for the next month.

studied wine formally at the University of Dijon, then apprenticed in Burgundy, where the best pinot noir wines come from. He continued his education in New Zealand, then in California, before returning to Canada.

By the time he came back, Prince Edward County was just becoming a wine centre. Convinced that the region’s cool climate and its soil were a perfect match for the pinot noir grape, Hardie opened the Norman Hardie Winery and Vineyard in 2005.

His wines are now carried by some of the best restaurants in Toronto.

According to Malcolm Jolley, editor of the Good Food Revelation website, all of the two to three thousand cases of wine that Hardie produces yearly never fail to sell out.

It’s easy to see why. Every time Pristine addresses the audience, Hardie just stands by his side, swirling wine in a glass before he sips it and lets it flood his mouth, looking pensive, as if he finds something new in the wine. And at the end of the event, as I sit there, surrounded by empty wine glasses, sipping the last of my 2007 Norman Hardie Cuvee L, which Hardie sells for $69 in his winery, I too find a new flavour in the wine, one that I hadn’t noticed in the previous sip. And so I wait, frowning, and swirl it again, and sip it one more time. And indeed there it is — a new flavour, a new texture almost, that hadn’t been there before.

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9, 2009 THE MEDIUM 11

Amir Ahmed, Editor | features@mediumonline.ca

Discovering UTM: Thomas Cottage The Medium uncovers the history of a mysterious cottage on campus AMIR AHMED FEATURES EDITOR

Most UTM students have at some point or another walked past the cottage lying between the South Building and Oscar Peterson Hall.

Yet no one seems to know its purpose or even its name. “That cottage” is the usual form of address, expanded to “that scary cottage” when students wish to be more specific, and to “the murder house” when they see no need for tact. (At The Medium we call it the “rapist shack.”)

While unthreatening during the day, students have a fair share to say about the cottage at night.Our copy editor observed, “For some reason last year the light went off when you came near it.” It may sound like something out of a horror movie, but several other UTM students claimed it happened to them too, adding that the strange smell coming from the woodlot reminds them of decomposing animals.

Take a peek at any map of the campus, and viewers will learn that

Gordon Freeman/The Medium

Thomas Cottage: don’t worry, it’s okay to let your guard down, even for a second. the “murder shack’s” official name is a boring “Thomas Cottage,” which was the likely the name of the man who either built or founded it.

More research reveals that Thomas Cottage actually precedes the UTM campus. Along with several other houses scattered throughout the campus, it was already constructed when U of T bought the land in the 1960s. The campus used these cottages as residences for the

150 students enrolled at the time.

As the University constructed new residences, the houses were converted to other purposes (the artist’s cottage, for example, became the headquarters for an artist-in-residence program). The UTM action plan appendix, commissioned by Principal McNutt in 2000, cites Thomas Cottage as “presently a rental property.”

Other university documents on

Don’t be silent: SPEAKout RAISA PALHA

SPEAKout – a Spoken Word Slam hits UTM on November 20. Hosted by the SPEAKout team in collaboration with UTMSU, it offers budding poets a chance to showcase their talents and sound off on a different topics.

“SPEAKout’s aim is to promote positive social action and local talent. We want to present the art of the spoken word as a form of entertainment that is a tad different from what mainstream media offers us today. It is our attempt to give back to the Canadian community and to keep the poetic tradition alive,” said coordinator Besma Soltan.

SPEAKout is a branch of LifeMakers Canada, an organization that strives to cultivate better understanding and awareness of significant social, cultural and youth-related issues.

Formed ten months ago as a mediarelated project through which values can be promoted, SPEAKout aspires to integrate youths into Canadian culture.

“We truly care about our poets.

We promote them and we support them,” said Soltan. The first SPEAKout competition, held at Ryerson University on July 24, gave away a hefty first place cash prize of $500. In addition, poets who contended for top prizes had a chance to perform at MuslimFest, a festival

the cottage are scarce. A public safety analysis of the campus cites the cottage as underlit, and that the lamp near it has been damaged (since this year, the university has placed a new lamppost nearby). The UTM action plan appendix describes it as “in poor repair.”

During 2000, when the UTM campus experienced a growth in infrastructure, McNutt’s action plan called for the cottage’s destruction

Nothing but the tooth GRANT DANIELS

that features the best of Muslim arts and entertainment. Although the core of the SPEAKout team is comprised of Muslims, the organization hopes to expand by recruiting a diverse group of members. Future projects include a television show as well as other charitable endeavours

that will build ties and foster peace and harmony among all Canadian subcultures. SPEAKout is the grand finale of UTMSU’s eXpression Against Oppression Week. Tickets for SPEAKout are available online, at the info booth in the Student Centre, and at the door for $10.

since it didn’t fit with the image of the new campus and detracted from the view of the woodlot it rests in.

The University still seems to have a grudge against the building, which is apparently scheduled for demolition. Until then, UTM students can probably rest easy knowning their creepy cottage—which The Medium endorses be renamed “the murder shack”—will still be waiting for them on dark nights.

Laura Dempster, assistant professor at the U of T Faculty of Dentistry, has been elected to the position of President of the Canadian Foundation for Dental Hygiene Research and Education. The CFDHRE is a Canadian entity that promotes education and research in oral health, including the funding of dental hygiene research in Canada.

Dempster, a graduate of U of T’s dental hygiene program, first discovered she wanted to teach while pursuing her bachelor of science in dentistry and dental hygiene degree.

Her position as a professor, she says, enables her to “satisfy both her love of teaching and her interest in clinical and education research.”

Dempster’s primary work is in dentist-patient anxiety, on both how it relates to what happens in dental practice and how it affects clinical performance in students. It’s a wellknown fact that many people get nervous at the dentist’s office and even put off dentist appointments to avoid those men and women with facemasks and sharp, pointy instruments. (Not that The Medium staff is afraid of any sharp, pointy and

evil-looking objects.)

As it turns out, dental anxiety is indeed one of the most common psychological conditions in the field, but not just for patients—the people with their fingers in your mouth can be anxious too.

Dempster examines how and why these fears occur, and the misperceptions that dentists, dental hygienists and patients have of each other. She hopes to make dental practise a more accessible and pleasant experience for Canadians.

Dempster’s goals for the Foundation are threefold: to sustain existing collaborations with the Canadian Institute of Health Research, to identify further opportunities to fund research for masters and doctoral studies in oral health for dental hygienists, and to promote the idea of oral health as a vital component of general health.

“Teeth are far more than just teeth,” Dempster says, “People have this idea that below the chin is general health, above the nose is mental health, and between the two is not that important; that’s simply not true. Research confirms that oral health is an important part of general health and contributes to our overall health and well-being.”

12 THE MEDIUM MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2009

FEATURES

REACHING OUT

Real men wear heels UTM Women’s Centre encourages men to “Walk Five Minutes in her shoes” GORDON FREEMAN

On November 12 at noon, the UTM Women’s Centre will offer men the chance to raise awareness for violence against women. Guess how they intend to do this.

The Walk Five Minutes in Her Shoes event puts men in high heels and sends them through an obstacle course near the CCT building and Student Centre. The Women’s Centre hopes to raise more than $100 this year, on par with last year’s profits. The funds will support the Interim women’s shelter.

The Women’s Centre was founded in approximately 1997.

Located in Room 131 in North Building, the centre offers referrals and resources. It also advises women on campus where who seek services regarding issues they may face such as abortion, abuse, or rape. Gyanika Narayanaswamy, the Women Centre’s volunteer co-

ordinator claimed that a lack of publicity and skewed public perception give s people the wrong idea of what the centre’s mission is. “People may assume ‘Women’s Centre’ means ‘active feminism,’ but we’re not activists, we’re a service centre,” she said.

The location of their office doesn’t help publicity. It is holed up in the North Building, where students in need may have a hard time locating it. Narayanaswamy hopes to move the Women’s Centre to the more popular South Building in the future.

“Our primary goal for this year is to get the Women’s Centre out there. Plans for future services include acquiring counsellors to hold biweekly discussions about various topics such as race, equity and immigration, and how they relate to women. The centre also hopes to hold open dialogues where people can talk about specific issues, and to establish an anonymous question system.

The Women’s Centre maintains

strong connections with the organizations it offers referrals to, such as the Rape and Crisis Centre of Peel and the Interim Shelter. It also intends to work more with OUT@UTM and the Sexual Education and Peer Counselling Centre, and has collaborated with the UTM Historical Students Society by sending volunteers to the Gender and Genocide Week.

So far, fifteen men have signed up for Walk Five Minutes in Her Shoes. Narayanaswamy hopes that more will sign up over the week, and that those who have pledged will remain true to their word.

“It’s difficult to get guys. They are skeptical about walking in high heels,” Narayanaswamy said.

Later this year, the Women’s Centre will hold a memorial for the victims of the Ecole P ol y tech n iq ue s h oot i ngs in t h e last week of November. The Centre will attend International Women’s Week at the end of January and Five Days of Activism in February.

ISRC is A-OK email amir at features@mediumonline.ca to find out how

Global Cafes, discussion on turkeys, and English lan guage sessions part of the many services offered by UTM’s International Student Resource Centre AMIR AHMED FEATURES EDITOR

POSTGRADUATE CERTIFICGACTAERESERS FOR REWARDIN

FINANCIAL PLANNING GLOBAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL MARKETING MARKETING MANAGEMENT PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

business.humber.ca

The culture shock of coming to Canada can be a discomforting thing. Our country’s cold winters, vast bureaucracy and a government wandering between American and British-style politics take some getting used to.

The feelings of isolation don’t help either; my mother, as a sixteen year-old immigrant, recalls a feeling of separation from her home and the disconnection with a new country where she only knew how to say “please” and “thank you.”

U of T, being composed of some pretty smart people, realized these problems a long time ago, and formed the International Student Centre to assist both new immigrants and international students who come to Canada to receive a U of T education. Three years ago, the International Student Centre extended its reach beyond its base of operations in Cumberland House downtown, and established itself at UTM to bring their services closer to the students who need it.

The UTM International Student Resource Centre operates out of the second floor of the South Building. Its mission is to provide information to international students on topics such as work visas, health care and immigration issues. The Student Affairs Department funds the ISRC, and although the ISRC is a separate

entity, the it works closely with its St. George counterpart.

The ISRC’s presence is critical to a significant minority of UTM students. “Ten percent of UTM students are international,” says Veronica Vasquez, “and that doesn’t include recent immigrants.” Although new citizens or permanent residents may not have to worry about UHIP cards or work visas, they still have to deal with the same issues in terms of adjusting to both university life and a foreign country.

“Not enough people seem to realize the benefits of the centre. Some interna tional students even go without collecting their UHIP cards, leaving them com pletely unprotected in medical cases.”

Not enough people seem to realize the benefits of the centre.

Some international students even go without collecting their UHIP c ards , leav ing them compl etely unprotected in medical cases.

Vasquez hopes to change this in the future by letting people know that the ISRC is a service centre meant to help students, not a club.

The ISRC, along with its information sessions, also provides social programs. Thi s year , th e

ISRC has organized social programs such as Let’s Talk Turkey (the bird, not the country) for Thanksgiving, a peer-to-peer English language instruction and a series of biweekly “Global Café” meetings. The next Global Café will discuss acquiring job experience in Canada, and will take place on November 10 at 4:30 p.m. in the South Building’s Fireplace Lounge.

The ISRC also organizes a buddy program, where a first-year international student is paired with an older student to help the first-years become acclimatized to UTM. Vasquez also hopes to organize tax clinics and work permit workshops next semester.

More information on the ISRC can be found at their office, or on the ISRC website.

Correction notice: In the article “Das Kapital...ism” published in issue 6 of The Medium, the Li Kun Choon Financial Centre is misspelled.The Financial Centre would like to inform students that the proper spelling is not “Lee Kun Choon Financial Centre”

Features needs people to write about: the stormwater pond, buying used cars and the new instructional centres. Interested in writing? Come by the office or email Amir at features@mediumonline.ca

MONDAY, NOVEMBER

9, 2009 THE MEDIUM 13

CREATIVE CORNER FEATURES

The Photograph

Wanderer

DAVID GUNN

SHAISTA KHAN

When I look at an old photograph, I see old friends boasting blue and white robes, with mortar boards perched upon their heads, looking into the camera's conscious eye of the past.

i stand here unsheltered, unprotected. my only shelter: emotional, courage, one man facing the immortal unexpected. a deluge of fog, a rising moss aimless, irrevocable, and unrestricted resting under my gaze, embracing the lonely mountain, the rising hills, the jagged rocks, still erected the sky and land meeting in the middle both connected by gray horizon, respected. a lone wanderer i stand, watching rocky fingers reach out of the fog. this sea, my sea of fog, standing through all that's rejected: by human kind, i alone in Sublimity, stand with an overflowing heart, an understanding of the chasm, the vastness of this tiny speck of foggy gray from up above. i alone, the wanderer, in this shady place, this hazy space, listening to trance and trace, stand connected.

You can hear the voices of congratulations of parents and teachers, and the timeless buzzing of the creatures of spring that have awakened so joyfully, inviting you into the picture.

And once again, You can smell the sweet air of honey blossoms that permeated the scene, as it fills your mind with the afternoon heat and the sense of anticipation about the night that would be soon to follow.

In my hand are just chemicals on paper, but the sound is audible and the scent is vivid and I have my moment back, like magic.

In pursuit of bubble tea SU LYN LIEW COPY EDITOR My roommate Kimberly and I stand in front of the Bubble Tease shop at Eaton Center, Toronto. A sizable crowd clusters before the cash register, rattling off a list of ingredients. Behind the counter, waitresses glide around each other, filling plastic containers with varicolored liquids.

“Okay, you’ve got to try Bubble Tease,” Kim chimes. “It’s one of those things that’s pretty Asian, and I know you’ve been craving bubble tea.”

I stare up at the drinks menu, divided into five ovals, each in bright colors and hosting a long list of flavors.

“Yeah, I miss bubble tea.”

Despite my constant exposure to Western traditions and habits in my seven years of education at an American international school, and my embracing of Western cuisine from around the world, there are times when I miss distinct Asian flavors. Chinese food — Sichuan, Cantonese, Hunanese, Shanghainese — taste different from each other, ranging from peppery-spicy, pungent and sniffle-inducing to steamed and mild-tasting dishes. There is something about the way they are cooked, however, often with a million ingredients thrown in, that reminds me irrevocably of home.

Kim smiles at me and leaves me to study the menu. My eyes trail down the list of flavors, mixes and combinations. Papaya, honeydew and taro — the list goes on. I close my eyes, open them and hunt desperately for a bubble tea that contained black tea, milk, the tapioca bubbles and nothing else, period.

“So, have you decided what you’re going to get?” Kim asks, pouring loose change from her clutch purse onto her palm. She fingers through the dualcolored toonies, off-gold loonies and bright silver quarters.

“Kim, for either the milk tea or the bubble tea, it says I have to pick a flavor,” I mutter, burying my fists in my jacket pockets. “Um… can I just get normal, plain bubble tea?”

Kim tips her head to the side. “You don’t want to try any of the flavors? I usually get lychee and lemon bubble

tea. It tastes divine.”

I shake my head. “In Asia, when we say bubble tea, it’s just that — tea and the bubble pearls. You have to go to a café if you want specialty bubble teas, but even then, we don’t mix in,” I glance up at the menu with a slight shudder, “up to three different flavors in them.”

“Plain, flavorless bubble tea?” Kim says, scrunching her eyebrows.

“Really?”

I nod, my bangs flying hittery-skitter over my eyes.

“Okaaaaaaay. Well, let’s ask them,” Kim says, tapping two fingers against her left arm. “It never hurts, and I know what it’s like not to get food the way you like it. I get iffy when someone claims to make Filipino dishes but the taste is completely off.”

I step up to the counter. “Hi. Is it possible for me to just get a plain milk tea and just add the… tapioca?” My tongue stumbles over the unfamiliar terminology and I smile sheepishly at the waitress.

“So… what flavor do you want, again?” the waitress asks, one lightbrown eyebrow raised, her marker tip poised over the side of the plastic cup.

“Well, I don’t want any flavor. I just want plain milk tea, but with the tapioca.”

The waitress glances at me, glances up at the menu and glances around her for help. “I think you still have to choose a flavor. How about lemon?”

“It’s okay, thanks.”

I back away, and wait for Kim to get her lychee-lemon-bubble tea. She slurps the large, black tapioca through her straw; they swirl in a stream of cream-white liquid. Strands of lychee flicker through the tea.

“Want to try? I get this combo every time I have bubble tea here.”

I wave one hand at her. “It’s okay.

It’s not the same, but I’ll try it next time.”

What I crave at the moment was the taste of Asian bubble tea, not a Canadian hybrid. * I set out on a hunt for the mythical Taiwanese bubble tea. The Chinese call bubble tea zhen zhu nai cha, literally “pearl milk tea,” and I am determined to get my little treasure treat. I

know the one surefire place to get authentic bubble tea, but going to Chinatown counted as cheating and I refuse to transit several times and travel forty-five minutes to get to a Chinese operated bubble-tea shop.

“What’s up with you Canadians?

Why do you insist on adding all sorts of flavors to everything you sell?” I ask Kim one day, genuinely curious.

“You know, I have no idea,” Kim replies. “Maybe we’re just too used to having excessive taste to our drinks?”

“They could at least offer the most basic version,” I say, glaring at my kettle, then at the Earl Grey teabag sitting in my white mug. “I just want bubblebubble tea. It’s easiest to make — they just skip adding a bunch of fruit syrup into it.”

“You know, you could just try the Canadian bubble tea,” Eva, my other roommate, calls from the living room.

“It’s not quite the same as bubble tea in Hong Kong, but lemon bubble tea’s pretty good!”

“I refuse to convert!” I call back, and bypass the milk carton in my hunt for sugar to flavor my tea. * Eva, Janet and I settle into the wicker-woven chairs at Axia, a ChineseKorean-Japanese fusion restaurant and bar. I lean back against the red embroidered cushions and stare at the wooden beams and globular white lamps hanging like large full moons.

“Hey, Lynny, you should try getting your bubble-bubble tea here.” Eva places her slim, dark scarlet Motorola phone on the table and folds her hands atop each other. A thin silver band shines on her right middle finger. “Seriously, we’re not getting more Asian in a Canadian restaurant than this.”

“Hai la,” Janet says, slipping into Cantonese — Eva and Janet are from Hong Kong and I am proficient enough in Cantonese to carry normal conversations. “Please, they seriously fail if they don’t have it here.”

“Exactly,” Eva says. “Mmm, Taiwanese bubble tea, with milk and tapioca pearls, cold and soothing, just the way it’s supposed to be.”

I make a face and glance at the snow swirling outside Axia’s wide glass windows. “I really shouldn’t be drinking

cold beverages in this weather. But honestly, if it’s authentic bubble tea, I’ll take it.”

“Hello, ladies, what can I get for you today?” Our waiter — Steve, his name tag proclaims — stops by our table, smiling at us.

I wait for Janet and Eva to place their meal and drink orders before speaking. “I would like the Korean bulgogi beef, please.”

“Sure thing. And any drinks for you?”

I glance up and smile. “Okay. I’m just wondering if I can just have normal bubble tea.”

Steve blinks at me. “Pardon?”

I riffle through the menu and poke my finger at the “milk tea” line. “You know, bubble tea… just plain milk tea with tapioca in it? With no other flavors whatsoever.”

Steve stares at the menu for a long second before turning back to his notepad. “So, you want milk tea… with tapioca?”

“Yup, just bubble tea.” I cross my fingers under the table and glance across the table at Eva and Janet. They grin back at me.

“Okay. I’ll look into that.” Steve collects our menus and recovers his smile. “I’ll be back with your drinks shortly, ladies.”

“Hey, he’s cute,” Janet says, turning to watch Steve walk away, her chandelier earrings jangling quietly. Her eyes snag on the olive-skinned man mixing drinks behind the sleek bar counter.

The bartender wears a snug white button-down shirt and a wide smile.

“Hey, that drink-tender is cuter, even with his shaved head.”

Eva and I twist in our seats. “Yeah, I guess he’s pretty cute,” Eva comments.

“Between Steve and him, I’ve got to say the drink-tender’s better looking.”

“Hmm… he’s kind of good looking,” I say. “But he’s not really my type, so I can’t say much.”

“Oh good.” Janet sighs and pulls out her cellphone. She aims the phone towards the gap between Eva and I. The phone emits a muted click.

“Did you just take a picture of the bartender?” I demand.

“Eye candy, okay? I can’t let this opportunity go by.” Janet’s eyes widen.

“Hey, the drink-tender’s looking in

this direction. Hey, he’s walking over here!”

Janet almost drops her phone in her hurry to hide it. Eva and I drop our gaze to the table. I bite my lips to stop the smile attempting to creep across my face. Janet’s face flushes pink.

The Eurasian bartender halts by my seat. “Hey there,” he says. “So you’re the young lady who wanted a specialty drink? Steve was a little vague on the details, so I came to clear things up.”

I scan for a name tag, but Eva stifles a giggle into a cough and I start babbling instead. “Yeah, I just wanted a normal bubble tea. It’s basically just milk tea, you know, tea with milk and tapioca in it.”

“So, just a normal tea, huh? Black tea?” the drink-tender smiles and his hazel-brown eyes are bright in the restaurant lights. The corners of his eyes are creased from laugh lines.

“Black tea, yes, and milk, with a little bit of honey and the tapioca pearls.”

“Wah, ni gou yan zhan hai gei sik gong tin wah, this guy sure knows how to be suave,” Eva mutters, her voice carrying across the table. Janet makes an odd noise, a cross between a splutter and a laugh, and I aim a kick under the table.

“Got it,” the bartender says, barely blinking at the yelp Eva gave. “I’ll be right back — I’ll get you the drink you wanted so much.”

“Thank you,” I murmur. I turn my attention back to my friends and glare.

Janet pats at her cheeks. “Ho hor oui ah! He’s really cute!”

“If he gets me my bubble tea, I’ll worship both his looks and his skills,” I mutter.

Ten minutes later, Steve carries our drinks to us. He sets out Eva’s iced lemon tea, Janet’s coke and my bubble tea—in a tea mug. I stare at the tiny mugful of milky-brown liquid, a perfect blend of milk and black tea. Eva leans forward, hands clasped together under her chin. Janet’s eyes flicker from my face, to my drink and back up again.

I touch my hand to the mug’s side, my eyes falling shut despite myself.

Warmth radiated from my mug of bubble tea. My perfect blend of cold bubble tea was hot.

14 THE MEDIUM MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2009

Andrew Tysiak , Editor | sports@mediumonline.ca

UTM intramurals racks up points as opposing teams forfeit SARAH MALAGERIO BRUNO

No one enjoys wasting time.

Forfeited games for intramurals at U of T may count as a win on the scoreboard, but for players and coaches, they are nothing but a waste of time. Time, and energy “It’s frustrating, and a huge disruptor for time management,” said Michael Van, who coached intramurals for the past four years. “Time spent traveling and finding out there is a default wastes a lot of studying, work and practice time.”

Just this past week, men’s division 1 volleyball received a win for a game that was forfeited by New College when the New team didn’t show up.

“A win is a win, but lets face it; the players are on the team to play, not get free wins,” said Neil Sehra, who played UTM division 1 basketball and flag football from 2003-2008, Sehra, a first-time coach this year, remembered traveling from Mississauga to Toronto only to find out the game was forfeited. “Team morale sucked when another team forfeited a game to us,” said Sehra.

“We would try and use the gym time as a workout, but it really took away the trust we had in U of T intramurals.”

So how does first-hand experience compare to the rules that govern intramurals?

According to the “Defaults and Forfeits” section of the U of T Intramurals Handbook, “A team that notifies the Program Office at least 48 hours before a scheduled game that it will be unable to field enough players will not be penalized.”

The Handbook, however, fails to mention a penalty for simple lack of communication—a problem that Gen Maltais ran into this past weekend.

“U of T at St. George lacks organization. My team was supposed to play [last] Saturday. I happened to look online and noticed the team we were going to play defaulted all their previous games, so I contacted St. George. If I didn’t look online, I would have never known, and no one would have told me that [the team] was going to forfeit,” said Maltais, who coached women’s flag football for two years and has played intramural basketball, flag football, soccer, lacrosse and hockey.

Maltais added that she asks all of her players to confirm their attendance for game days. If she doesn’t have enough players, she contacts the league ahead of time.

UTM coach Jennifer Chapman follows the same courteous guidelines as Maltais. Her women’s ice hockey team had to forfeit a 2008-09 season game. “We called ahead within the 48-hour period to give the team we were playing advanced

notice,” said Chapman, “We weren’t going to have enough players to play even if we had shown up.”

Apparently, only UTM coaches bothered to read the rules.

In addition to the 48-hour rule, the Handbook also says: ▪If a team forfeits one game, other than the first game, they will lose one point in their standings.

▪If the same team forfeits a second time, they will lose their place in the league and have to pay a fine of $35.

▪If a team forfeits their first game, they must pay a fine of $70 and are automatically disqualified from the league.

Maltais has lost faith in the Handbook upkeep. “If your team defaults the first game, or at least two games during the season, you’re supposed to get kicked out of the league, to give your place to another faculty who are waiting to play. The intramural organization doesn’t always apply this rule [to the forfeiting teams].”

To regain UTM coaches and players’ trust, some believe that the organization should introduce new rules.

“Some type of fine system to discourage teams from not showing up or providing enough notice,” said division 2 women’s basketball team coach Michael Van. “$10 per game, with the donations going towards the winning team.”

“If the downtown teams commu-

Sarah Malagerio Bruno/The Medium

UTM’s division 1 women’s soccer team walks off the field after their opponents miss the scheduled match. nicated more regularly with their teams, then it might eliminate the number of times UTM travels downtown – only to find out that there is no game. It UTM can let the other teams know when we are unable to come, then the downtown teams can show us the same consideration,” Chapman added.

Coach Van usually finds out his team’s game has been forfeited when the default buzzer sounds. “Some

players give away work shifts to show up to a forfeited game,” Van said.

“All the other team had to do was to provide notice to their opponents.

For some reason, common courtesy seems to be ignored. And if they’re ignoring it, these [hypothesized] fines should catch their attention!”

If U of T intramurals are to be taken seriously, significant changes must be made to maintain student teams’ participations.

Majors capitalize on Belleville’s penalty woes for hard-earned victory After scoring four power play goals, the Majors earn their 13th victory of the season

ANDREW TYSIAK SPORTS EDITOR

The St. Mikes Majors dominated their opponents on November 6, much like they have dominated the entire league so far this season — with physical play and persistent offensive pressure. After winning eight of their last ten games, the 5-2 victory pushes the Majors record to 13-4-1 on the season and puts them only two points behind the firstplace Barrie Colts in the Eastern Conference.

The Majors had a slow start to the game but woke up in the second period, scoring three goals in a span of seven minutes, which put the game out of reach for the struggling Belleville Bulls.

Up to that point, with the game tied at1-1, the Bulls had kept pace with the favourite Majors. The Bulls made key

defensive plays and it appeared for a minute that they could pull off a big upset to the approval of their many passionate fans in attendance at the Hersey Centre.

Belleville’s goaltender Philipp Grubauer had a rather disappointing outing, letting in four goals on just 20 shots, and was pulled for the entire third period in favor of Tyson Teichmann, who was winless so far this season in six games and had a dismal save percentage of 0.831. Two particular goals were definitely Grubauer’s fault and resulted in momentum builders for the Majors.

In the first period, a weak wrist shot

by Majors centreman Jordan Mayor deflected off several Bellivelle players before slowly trickling through Grubauer’s five-hole. But the weak second period goal proved to be the nail in the coffin for the Bulls. UTM student and Majors defenseman Cameron Gaunce took a slapshot at an almost impossible angle, sending the puck through Grubauer’s unprotected fivehole. The Bulls appeared lifeless and

Matthew Filipowich/ The Medium

Majors #16 Joseph Cramarossa (white) and Bulls #16 Cody Alcock (black) drop the gloves during third period action on Friday. lacked much intensity after that goal, and only started to apply legitimate pressure late in the third period after a power play goal scored by right-winger Luke Judson.

On the other hand, Majors backup goaltender J.P. Anderson had a respectable outing and maintained his relevance behind the recipient of the OHL goaltender of the month for

October, Chris Carrozzi, making 21 saves on 23 shots for the game.

Although sub-par goaltending and a lack of offensive pressure were potential causes of Belleville’s loss this evening, it was their penalty woes that got them in trouble and turned out to be their Achilles’ heel.

The Belleville Bulls were penalized 11 times throughout the game, result-

ing in four power play goals for the Majors. They scored only one goal during five on five action. Although the Majors may have been considered lucky on this night, it was their aggressive fore checking and solid play in their own zone that contributed to many of the Bulls’ lackluster penalties and left them shorthanded for much of the game.

The first star of the game was Kingston, Ontario native Jordan Mayer.

Notching a goal and an assist on the evening, Mayer’s ability to engage and work hard around the net established his presence on the ice and gave Bulls’ players fits throughout the entire game.

The second and third stars of the game went to Majors players Joseph Cramarossa and Kelly Geoffrey respectively.

The Majors were back in action yesterday when they hosted the Kingston Frontenacs at 2:00 p.m., winning 6-3.

For information on Majors individual and season tickets for the 2009-10 season, visit the Majors website or call the Majors ticket line at 905-502-7788.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER

9, 2009 THE MEDIUM 15

RISE TO THE TOP

Sabres silence critics as Hurricanes disappoint WILLIAM ROBERTSON

As experts and journalists made their predictions prior to the 2009/10 regular season, few gave the Buffalo Sabres a fighting chance to contend or even make the playoffs.

A month into the regular season, the Sabres have proven all naysayers wrong. They have indeed been the biggest surprise in the Eastern Conference. With a remarkable start of 9-4-1, they only trail Pittsburgh and Washington, although they have games in hand on both teams.

The Sabres owe their success to an even distribution of offence.

Nine of the Sabres’ players have more than five points this season, including top forward Tomas Vanek. Vanek missed two games and still has five goals in the ten games he played.

The goaltending for the Sabres this season has been their greatest credit. Ryan Miller is proving himself as a frontrunner to start for Team USA in the Olympics with his stellar play this season. He leads the league in save percentage with an outstanding .941. His GAA — an impressive 1.69 in eleven games — is second only to Andrew Raycroft, who has not played more than ten games this season. If Miller remains uninjured and maintains his superb play, the Sabres could make a run for first in the East, and Team USA is going to be even tougher to beat in the Olympics.

Going the opposite direction of the Buffalo Sabres are the Carolina Hurricanes. Their dismal play has caused their record to drop to 211-3 and last place in the Eastern Conference. This is surprising, considering the team made it all the way to the Eastern Conference finals last season, only to be swept four games to none by the eventual

Is the salary cap in professional sports fair?

The salary cap evens the playing field but also prevents high income franchises from performing up to their potential HAI BAO

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Sabres goalie Ryan Miller (left) and Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward (right) have dictated their teams fate with their performances so far this season.

Stanley Cup champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Hurricanes’ defence was shaky at the start of the season and they have not provided any help for goaltender Cam Ward. Ward is trying to secure a spot on the Team Canada roster, but with a save percentage of .899, he does not look like a goaltender ready to backstop for his country.

Carolina has been terrible with goals against statistics. They have allowed 59 goals in just 14 games this season and only scored 32. In a last ditch effort to obtain some scoring, the Hurricanes called up youngster Zach Boychuk from their minor league program.

Boychuk was a constant offensive prowess in the World Junior Championships for Team Canada

and the Hurricanes hope he can do the same at the NHL level. If he does not produce and Ward continues his inconsistent play, the Hurricanes will continue to get worse until sniper Eric Staal returns. (He is listed as week-toweek due to an upper-body injury.)

The Hurricanes and the Sabres are thus on completely different paths. They show no signs of slowing down. The Sabres could finish first in the East if Miller maintains his stellar play. The Hurricanes could finish last if Ward continues his inconsistent play and his team does not start scoring. Keep a watchful eye on the Sabres as this surprising team could be holding Lord Stanley by the time spring arrives.

SPORTS

These days, the most loyal fans in sports are Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Redskin fans.

They can sympathize with each other’s teams, which are both among their respective league’s top teams in attendance every year and have rich histories of winning championships. That victorious history however, hasn’t repeated itself in many years.

According to Forbes magazine, the Redskins is the second highest valued football team in the league at $1.6 billion dollars, behind the Dallas Cowboys. Yet out of the past eight years, the Washington Redskins have only made the playoffs twice (2005 and 2007).

Toronto has yet to make the playoffs since the salary cap was introduced into the NHL after the 2004-2005 lockout. Prior to the lockout, the Leafs were almost guaranteed to make the playoffs.

Every year, it seemed like they played against either the Senators or the Devils in crucial post season games, giving fans hope that the team would break the curse and finally win the Stanley cup. In fact, the Leafs made the playoffs for six consecutive seasons, from the 1998-99 season to the 2003-04 season.

Fast forward to the present. The Leafs are now as likely to make the playoffs as they are to win the lottery. Yet, according to Forbes magazine, they are the highest valued franchise in the hockey league, at $448 million dollars.

So, is the salary cap really fair?

The only league that does not impose one is baseball. The Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Angels, Cardinals, Cubs, Phillies lead the

league in attendance. The same teams are in the post-season year after year. It almost seems like baseball fans are rewarded for showing up to see their teams play, no matter how badly the owner or the general manager mismanages the team.

Being able to spend freely takes the effort out of running a franchise and building a competitive team from the bottom-up. While the average franchise is forced to rely on developing young players in their farm systems in hopes that they will one day improve the quality of their team, high-income franchises such as the New York Yankees get to skip that entire process, signing the best available free agents with all the disposable income they possess.

There is no denying that salary caps level the playing field and create more competition within the league. But they also keep professional sports franchises where they have no fan base. This is most evident in hockey, where 12 teams operate at a deficit this year while the Leafs operate at a profit of $66.4 million dollars (the Montreal Canadiens come in at a close second at $39.6 million dollars).

These profitable franchises are forced to pay their deficit operating counterparts equalization payments under the newly formed salary cap system in the NHL. If the Leafs cannot spend the money that they are making, commissioner Gary Bettman will struggle to keep the league afloat and to put a competitive team on the ice. With all the profits the Leafs have made since the introduction of the salary cap, they could buy out the Pittsburgh Penguins. But would Gary Bettman allow such a thing?

Advisory: women’s volleyball game postponed due to H1N1 HAMILTON, Ont. Ontario University Athletics (OUA) announced today that the wom en's volleyball game hosted by the Toronto Varsity Blues on Nov. 8 against the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks has been postponed in accordance with OUA's H1N1 policy.

(University of Toronto) Report: Jays considering shipping Overbay to Arizona The Toronto Blue Jays are considering a trade that would send first baseman, Lyle Overbay to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for catcher, Chris Snyder, according to the Arizona Republic..

Riders beat Stamps, clinch first West Division title since '76 REGINA Rob Bagg's second quarter touchdown reception stood up as the difference maker as the Saskatchewan Roughriders clinched their first West Division title since 1976 with a 30 14 win over the Calgary Stampeders in CFL action. Both teams entered the game a win away from clinching first in the West.

(The Canadian Press)

MMPA

Master of Management & Professional Accounting

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www.utoronto.ca/mmpa

16 THE MEDIUM MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2009

SPORTS

MARTIAL ARTS

Paving the way for Aikido at UTM Instructor Christopher Young hopes UTM students embrace the Japanese martial art ALAIN LATOUR EDITOR IN CHIEF

On September 21, we published an article about Aikido that prompted many student inquiries. To satisfy these inquiries, we sat down with Christopher Young, second-degree Renshinkai Aikido instructor, to talk about his martial art. Young teaches Aikido at UTM on Tuesdays from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

1 ) W h a t di d y o u t h i nk of the original article we pub lished in The Medium?

I only have one technical correction.

We are not practicing Yoshinkan at UTM but rather Renshinkai. It’s more political than stylistic, as up until just a couple of months ago, I was in the Yoshinkan. Chida Tsutomu, the technical director and Inoe Kancho, head of the Yoshinkan, were forced to retire and the founder’s son, Yasuhisa Shioda, was installed as Kancho. I applied to Chidasensei to be recognized as Renshinkai shortly after his announcement of forming a new organization, and was accepted in June of this year.

Otherwise I rather liked the article.

I’ve never been all that keen on the common translations for “Aiki” (harmony being the one I dislike most) and the one that most inspires me is a “combining of spirits.” This one comes from Robert Mustard-sensei, whom I consider a great teacher and who has taught me a lot over the years. He studied for many years in Japan with Chida and Takeno-senseis. From my own point of view, it is the one translation that meshes best with what Aikido is to me.

Even this translation can be interpreted in many ways, and my own interpretation is pretty hard to put into words.

What we are trying to learn in Aikido (or at least what I’m trying to learn and pass along to my students) is how to take any force generated by an attacker and work with it. Kind of like surfing. A good ride is all about reading the wave and predicting what it’s going to do so that you can use the force to your advantage. The wave is going to do what it is going to do no matter what you do, so if you fight it, you will lose. This is Aiki. In the beginning, Aikido is all about pain compliance. As your training progresses, it becomes more about control through superior positioning, and finally it becomes Aiki as I defined above.

2) So is Aikido really about avo i di n g h ar m t o yo ur attacker?

Well, as for the “gentle” bit in the original article, I think that the idea that even when someone is attacking you, you should be concerned for that person’s wellbeing. In Aikido, the notion that we strive to defend ourselves without hurting our attacker is very noble.

To be honest, that notion is also misguided and dangerous.

In the highly unlikely event that I am forced to fight, my attacker’s wellbeing is of little concern to me. I certainly don’t want to hurt anybody, and I never have. I am very careful to make it quite clear to my students, and omnipresent in my own mind, that much of what we learn not only cause serious injury, but can in fact be lethal.

With that knowledge in hand, one must be mindful of what kind of dis-

agreement is worthy of physical intervention. This may sound a bit harsh, and without a much longer explanation, I’m not sure how to convey exactly what I mean, but the question needs to be “Is this disagreement worth killing or dying for?” If not, then you should not fight. Period. So in a way you could say that I am concerned for an attacker’s wellbeing in that I will not escalate a common argument over a parking space or whatever because it isn’t an issue worth dying for. This is the idea that learning martial arts is very much about avoiding confrontation. Our ego is an enormous obstacle to our training, and while having the knowledge that you are able to physically prevail in an altercation can be good for your self-esteem, it can have some very negative effects on your ego. No matter how “right” you may be in an argument, raising a hand to “teach someone a lesson” is folly. You cannot win an argument by beating someone up.

3) There’s a debate as to whether traditional martial a r ts a re re lev a nt . M an y claim that military hand to hand combat systems are more effective and easier t o l e ar n b eca use t h e y exploit our natural reflexes a nd have been t ested i n r e al con di t i on s. Wh at ’s your opinion?

It’s a common misconception that systems like krav maga, of which there are many, are somehow more effective than say, Aikido. All the use of force systems that are taught to various military and police forces are for the most part very rudimentary. They all carry weapons and these weapons are brought to bear almost immediately when things get serious. Even a simple stapler seems to be more of a threat than what three trained RCMP officers are willing to deal with when they’re empty-handed. Yoshinkan Aikido is taught to the Tokyo riot police in an intense course that lasts six hour a day for eight months, and to the best of my knowledge, this is one of the very few military forces that provide real, effective hand-to-hand training to their personnel.

There is no such thing as simple, effective martial arts training. It does not exist. In order to get any value from a martial art, you must be able to act without thinking. It’s like catching a ball or walking. You learned how to do these things. Even though you know that to catch a ball you must move your hand to the point in space where the ball is going to be, close your hand at the point where they meet and absorb the force, if you have never done it before, you will very likely fail the first time you try. You must block thousands of punches in order to be able to block a punch effectively. There is no other way. To become capable of fending off a vicious attack, you must spend a minimum of six hours a week for a year or so in any martial art. And even then, there are no guarantees.

It’s not the particular martial art that matters, but the training. Any Renshinkai (Yoshinkan) student who has spent time on the mats under a good instructor will be every bit as

Matthew Filipowich/The Medium

Christopher Young demonstrates an Aikido technique. Classes are available for students at UTM on Tuesdays from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. For more information, visit the Department of Physical Education website. effective as a student who has studied one of these abbreviated systems for a comparable time. The difference with a true Budo is that this is only the very start of the training. The body of knowledge is so deep that you have to continue moving forward.

The difference between us and other styles of Aikido is that they are comfortable training a method that will not be effective for many years in order to learn the more advanced aspects of Aikido first. I cannot speak for those who pursue this course, but I think it is because they simply cannot see themselves hurting someone, so they will forgo learning how to twist an arm until they can do it without hurting their attacker. Conversely, the most difficult aspect of training in Renshinkai or Yoshinkan is that we learn in a very regimented manner in order to establish a very strong base, where there is very little subtlety but students learn the effective use of force. At some point you must begin to soften and flow in order to progress. Many people have a difficult time taking this next step and end up stuck at the “hard” stage.

4 ) W h a t a b ou t f or me r o r cu r r en t Ai kid o kas w h o claim they had to study other martial arts in order to be effective, for exam ple Brazilian jiu jitsu?

There’s an old saying: “It’s not the budo, it’s the budoka.” Unfortunately people sometimes learn the wrong lesson from an experience. Rather than face the possibility that perhaps some of them were crappy Aikidoka, they blamed Aikido. It’s a poor craftsman that blames his tools.

About Brazilian jiu jitsu, the bottom line is this. The very first UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) was a Gracie promotion. The decision was made to

put mats down and set some basic rules that, on the surface, were there to protect the fighters, and they were, but they also provided an advantage to the grapplers. But the mats were the big thing. If the very first UFC had been contested on hardwood or concrete, ground fighting would not enjoy the popularity that it does today.

As a sport, MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) is very interesting to watch, and people like the Gracies are very skilled martial artists, but one-on-one fighting in a padded ring, wearing gloves, with a referee and a pile of rules, reveals very little about which martial art is better than the other. In my opinion, there is no best, there are only those who are worse. A highly trained martial artist, regardless of which art, is no one to be trifled with under any circumstances.

5) Do you believe in com petition in martial arts?

Competition has no place in the martial arts. It always degrades the art when the focus is moved from improving your skills to proving you’re better than someone else. It’s all about ego. When you introduce competition, you have to introduce rules so no one gets seriously hurt. What you do in the dojo is what you will do when you are forced to defend yourself. Those rules will impede your ability to defend yourself.

I train Renshinkai because I believe in the system, and I believe in the system because of personal experience and anecdotes from top teachers. I’m very confident in the system’s ability to teach the true skills of martial arts. Now and then, I do have serious doubts about my ability to defend myself against someone who has skills that I have never trained. (Ending up on the ground with a grappler, having a boxer stand beyond my reach and hit me faster than I can block, etc). And I always come to the same conclusion. If I continue to train to the best of my ability, the posture,

movement and understanding of an attacker’s dynamics that comes from this training will simply come out when needed.

As a sensei with a lot of beginning students, some who have trained in something else, I’m often punched at or grabbed in a manner that is not the Renshinkan way, and so far, it’s been very easy to deal with every time. Now I admit that’s not really a test, but I do surprise myself sometimes when I do something I didn’t know I could do. Just as a simple example, I picked a fly out of the air the other day. It is not something I spend any time trying to do, and I might never be able to do it again with a 1,000 tries, but I really do believe that it was simply a result of my training. And yes, I have tried a couple of times since, and missed.

I am not so arrogant as to think that I could win any fight, and I certainly am curious just how well I would do, but I try not to dwell on it. There will always be somebody better, but at some point, you will reach a level at which all those that can beat you will not be interested in doing so.

6) Why did you begin train ing Aikido?

I think deep down, I want to be in control of any situation I’m in. I don’t like bullies and I think I started training partly to make sure no one could intimidate me, but I think it was also so that I could intervene without hesitation when someone else was being bullied.

I’m the kind of person who would probably jump in to help whether I had martial arts training or not, but it’s pretty stupid to try to save a drowning man when you don’t know how to swim.

My wife had started training with Plomish-sensei. She persuaded me to try it. I had been planning on taking Karate, but I gave Aikido a go, and just really dug it.