Vol 42 issue 16

More on racism, and the reverse

Too many triggers?

Free movies, important issues

The faces behind Facebook pages

Ready, set, squash!

News, page 2

Opinion, page 7

A&E, page 8

Features, page 11

Sports, page 16

Pro-rape vandalism found in washroom Reports heard of vandalism promoting rape in the male washroom of the Student Centre NICOLE DANESI NEWS EDITOR An investigation is currently underway into vandalism discovered in the Student Centre’s male washroom.

The vandalism appeared in the form of comments promoting rape culture discovered on three public service announcements aimed at ending sexual violence and harassment.

In an emailed memorandum on Thursday afternoon to UTMSU staff and volunteers, Walied Khogali, executive director of UTMSU, attached photos of three public service announcements from the Ontario government’s It’s Never Okay campaign displayed in the male washroom on the ground floor of the Student Centre.

In the images provided by Kho-

MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUM

The vandalism was found in the Student Centre’s male washroom and has since been removed. gali, one advertisement includes text that reads, “Some guy is taking your drunk friend home with him. You can escort her home

or let her crash with you. But if you don’t help her, you’re helping him.”

Vandalism written under the

text of the advert reads, “Help him,” while vandalism under another similar advertisement reads, “Help him rape her.” A third PSA

included vandalism using the phrase “f— her right in the p—”.

It is currently unknown when the vandalism was discovered and as of press time, the vandalism was removed from the PSAs. “The comments made are offensive and deplorable,” said Khogali in the memorandum, calling for assistance in reporting individuals found to be involved in vandalism.

In an email on Friday, Khogali also informed The Medium that the advertisements are managed from an outsourced service hired

by UTM. According to Khogali, the vandalism was reported by students and an investigation into the vandalism is currently underway. Portions of the report are expected to be made available to the press once the investigation is complete.

Saini travels to India with Wynne SGM fails to reach quorum

MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUM

MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUM

Wynne arrived in India last Wednesday.

ALICIA BOATTO Deep Saini, VP of U of T and principal of UTM, is traveling to India alongside Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne in a trade mission set to promote economic opportunities between the province and India, the world’s second most populated nation.

Saini will be representing U of T to promote the university’s programs, including UTM’s newest initiative, the I-Challenge.

“I-Challenge is a program designed to provide students with an opportunity to see what it is like to live on campus at U of T and experience an innovative program while experiencing many different facets of the campus and the undergraduate and graduate departments,” said Donna

Heslin, the assistant director for IMI’s management team, in an email to The Medium.

According to Heslin, the program is intended for international high school students in grades 10, 11 and 12; however, local students will also be considered. The Institute for Management and Innovation and I-CUBE will head the program and camp counsellors will be hired this fall with the program expected to launch in Summer 2017.

“I-Challenge is a two-week program that exposes students to a timely entrepreneurial case,” said Hestin.

“Students will work in teams to provide a creative and effective solution to this challenge.”

According to UTM communications officer Blake Eligh, Saini’s upcoming trip is a provincial initiative

176 votes were present at the meeting on Thursday. and has no correlation with Saini’s trip to India during his sabbatical.

Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie will also join the trade mission alongside the premier and other postsecondary representatives.

In a press release issued by the mayor’s office earlier this month, Crombie’s presence in the delegation will focus on economic opportunity.

“We will further promote economic development opportunities, the exchange of knowledge and best practices, and celebrate a far greater appreciation and understanding of Canada and India’s enriching cultural traditions and shared values,” read the statement.

The premier, who arrived in India last Wednesday, is expected to lead the delegation from January 31 to February 5.

NICOLE DANESI NEWS EDITOR UTSU’s second SGM, hosted on Thursday evening, failed to reach quorum, resulting in the meeting transitioning into a town hall format where students discussed motions instead of voting on the items on the agenda.

With UTM students noticeably absent from the meeting, Abdulla Omari, a division three director on the UTMSU board, attempted to explain the absence.

“We’re sort of kind of tired,” said Omari, adding that students have been to one AGM already and there wasn’t much drive to attend on Thursday.

According to UTSU president Ben Coleman, 176 votes were pres-

ent in person at the meeting and buses were arranged together by UTMSU and UTSU to transport students from UTM to the meeting held at Sidney Smith Hall on the St. George campus.

To reach quorum, UTSU needed to have 350 votes at the meeting to pass motions.

UTMSU president Ebi Agbeyegbe did not respond to The Medium’s request for comment when asked why more UTMSU members were not present at the meeting.

According to Coleman, agenda items pertaining to bylaw amendments will be passed on to the next UTSU AGM, while remaining items will be dealt with by the UTSU board or other union committees.

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UTMSU hosts “real talks”

UTMSU fills division

Discrimination, reverse racism, and prejudice discussed

four board vacancies

OLIVIA ADAMCZYK/THE MEDIUM

Roughly 25 students attended UTMSU “Real Talks” event on January 18.

ALAHEH AMINI

On January 19, UTMSU held the latest edition of their “Real Talks” series. The session focused on reverse racism and UTM students were invited to participate in the discussion, which took place in room 270 of the Student Centre.

Students participated in discussion on pre-planned topics of prejudice, discrimination, privilege, personal experience, and the significance of definitions.

Roughly 25 students were present and the majority defined key terms such as racism, reverse racism, prejudice, and “whiteness” based on their own experiences.

Earlier this year, there was controversy over the term “reverse racism” after UTMSU’s Racialized Student Coalition posted a definition on its Facebook page claiming the term does not exist.

UTMSU president Ebi Agbeyegbe said that UTMSU’s goal is to educate and, “Whenever it’s time to talk about racialized people, people always ask, ‘What about white people?’ We don’t hate white people, it’s just about empowering the racialized folks. In terms of having hate or having racialized prejudice, that’s not the goal of the racialized coalition […] It’s not hate, it’s just

a different form of empowerment.”

“The university encourages students to engage in conversations and academic dialogues, to have different perspectives on these issues, and it is within UTMSU’s rights to engage in these conversations,” stated UTM’s equity and diversity officer, Nythalah Baker, in an email to The Medium last semester.

Students discussed prejudice, discrimination, privilege, personal experience, and the significance of definitions.

When asked how “whiteness” is defined, Agbeyegbe said it is what is considered to be the norms of society.

“Whiteness is in my opinion what we see around us every day […] There is Eurocentrism that is depicted around us,” he said, adding that it’s seen in the education system, language, and other parts of Canadian culture.

The RSC defines “white” in visible terms because according to Agbeyegbe, even those who are “white passing” (appear European but are

not) have privileges not afforded to those who appear to be of colour.

However, Agbeyegbe notes that in the end, “it’s all about what you experience”.

The group strives to “talk about how to educate other racialized students on campus about the issues [happening] on campus” and Agbeyegbe indicated that on an ethnically diverse campus such as UTM, it is important to mobilize and reach out to different ethnic groups.

Past meetings have constituted of discussion on a wide range of topics such as the discrimination complaint process, segregated events, and workshops to unite different “coloured” student associations.

Baker confirmed that the Equity and Diversity Office would be working with UTMSU to address issues with the discrimination complaint process.

“We are co-creating a document for distribution to their members that outlines steps students can take if they have concerns about race-based discrimination or harassment. We’re hoping to complete this process in the winter term. Our offices would also welcome the opportunity to meet with students or the UTMSU to discuss any other concerns they may have,” Baker wrote in her email.

FACEBOOK.COM/APUS97PHOTO

Richie Pyne is one of two new UTMSU board members.

MENNA ELNAKA ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR Nauman Mughal and Richie Pyne have been voted in to division four of the UTMSU board of directors at Wednesday’s board meeting to fill the vacant seats for part-time students.

In his presentation to the board, Mughal provided an overview of his volunteerism on campus, including the Psychology Association of Undergraduate Students at Erindale, the Muslim Students’ Association, and involvement at Student Life, while also expressing concerns regarding part-time students and OSAP, and concerns about the limited time they are able to spend on campus.

Pyne, VP internal for the tricampus Association of Part-time Undergraduate Students and UTM director at APUS, maintained that he can bring his concerns forward as a director on UTMSU to reflect other part-time students like him.

According to Pyne, a concern of his is related to part-time student schedules and the challenge it may pose when trying to maintain relationships on campus in addition concerns over similar service fees between full and part-time students.

According to the UTMSU constitution and bylaws, if vacancies occur after November 1 within divisions one, two, three, or four of the

board of directors, they shall be replaced with an election at the board.

UTMSU circulated a vacancy notice last fall and four people applied for the position, including Mughal and Pyne.

During UTMSU’s December board meeting, executives and members of the board agreed to keep the process of electing candidates in January alongside the scheduled reopening of divisions one, two, and three. Abdulla Omari, a division three director, amended the motion not to evacuate the three divisions as representatives have already been elected to those seats for the academic year.

Among other motions discussed, Farah Noori, a division three director, requested that UTMSU release a statement supporting the MSA following an event organized by the student group earlier this month.

According to the motion, it is alleged that a biology professor “acted harshly towards the speaker, failing to engage in proper discussion” at an event intended to pose questions about the Islamic faith.

It was decided that UTMSU’s board and executive members will look into the alleged incident and will draft a letter based on their findings.

The next board meeting is expected to be scheduled in February.

02.01.2016 THE MEDIUM NEWS

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More students using CCR 7,400 students have completed 10,500 entries on the CCR

January 14, 2:10 p.m.

Theft Under $5,000 A student reported to Campus Police Services the theft of her Samsung Galaxy S4.

January 15, 12:00 p.m.

Unauthorized Activities Campus Police were called to attend a social gathering that was over capacity.

January 15, 6:20 p.m.

Disruptive Behaviour Campus Police responded to an altercation between two males at the RAWC. Both males were asked to leave the gym and did so without incident.

January 18, 1:20 p.m.

Trespass to Property Act Campus Police received reports of a male soliciting students for donations. Campus Police attended and located the male. The male was trespassed from campus.

January 18, 5:00 p.m.

Mischief A student reported to Campus Police that two of her tires were punctured.

January 21, 8:00 p.m.

Medical Call Campus Police attended the RAWC where a student sustained an injury to her right knee.

January 25, 10:08 p.m.

Parking Vehicle was towed from lot 10 as no permit was displayed.

January 27, 1:10 p.m.

Parking A car was impounded as it had a fraudulent pay and display permit.

January 27, 4:40 p.m.

Liquor License Act Campus Police witnessed a student throwing a chair off the second floor Student Centre patio. The male was issued a Provincial Offences Notice.

These reports are those that have been released to The Medium and do not necessarily constitute an exhaustive list.

Students can contact the UTM Campus Police at 905 828 5200, Peel Regional Police at 905 453 3311, or Crime Stoppers at 1 800 222 8477.

The co-curricular record originally launched in September 2013.

AMANDA BORTHWICK

U of T’s co-curricular record has experienced an increase in students and campus groups using the program since it launched in September 2013.

The CCR now offers approximately 4,300 opportunities, from 1,500 listed in 2013, and approximately 220 club and organizational activities are recognized in it.

At the end of its first year, approximately 4,300 U of T students completed 5,700 activity validations. In the 2014/15 academic year, approximately 7,400 students completed 10,500 validations.

According to CCR program coordinator Kimberly Elias, one of the founders of the Canadian Cocurricular Record Professionals Network, over 70 universities and colleges across Canada use a CCR, an official document that tracks both undergraduate and graduate students’ engagement in extracurricular activities. The record is designed to complement an official transcript and

allows students to market their skills and experiences to employers, graduate, and professional schools.

Students who wish to connect with CCR-recognized clubs and organizations can search for available opportunities on the CCR online database.

Student involvement is validated two months upon completion of their roles at the end of the semester and appears on their CCR transcript.

According to Elias, those involved in UTMSU activities are also eligible to receive recognition on the CCR. “At UTM, the student development officer, student organizations, and co-curricular record will work with a member of the students’ union executive team to act as the local staff validator to assist UTMSU with proposing activities and roles to be recognized on the CCR, and to act as a validator in collaboration with a designate from the students’ union executive,” said Elias.

In an email to The Medium, Elias explained that the process of activity validation can only be completed by a university staff or faculty member

MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUM

as the CCR is an official university record, comparable to a transcript.

There are currently hundreds of staff across all three U of T campuses who have volunteered to have the ability to verify student activities.

According to Elias, in a series of consultations with club and organization leaders, students wanted to ensure that only those who fulfilled their roles and responsibilities were recognized.

“They felt that the process would be unfair if the validation decision came down to the president of group,” said Elias. “UTM Student Life and UTMSU have been meeting to discuss the implementation of a UTM student activities committee for the Co-curricular Record to streamline the process for student organizations to have their activities recognized on the CCR.” According to Elias, the CCR plans to organize additional student consultations in the near future to focus on opportunities for graduate students to use the CCR and further explore barriers to co-curricular engagement.

U of T to respond to TRC calls The committee will make changes on Indigenous issues SHEHNOOR KHURRAM

U of T is looking to make changes in response to the 94 recommendations put forth by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The commission was created to get Canadians involved in the ongoing process of reconciliation with Canada’s aboriginal community.

As a part of the Indian Residential School Settlement agreement, the TRC was established in 2008 to document and share with Canadians the accounts of the survivors of the residential school system.

In response to the “Calls to Action”, U of T’s president Meric Gertler and VP Cheryl Regehr have decided to create a steering committee responsible for implementing the TRC’s recommendations that are applicable to the postsecondary institution. The committee will be co-chaired by Jonathan HamiltonDiabo, the director of aboriginal student services at First Nations House at U of T, and Munk School

of Global Affairs director Stephen Toope.

“It is my hope that any recommendations put forward by the committee will encourage in transforming the culture of the university community to become a more welcoming environment,” said Hamilton-Diabo. “The committee will build upon the work that has been occurring at U of T for over 25 years in order to continue to increase Indigenous participation in all parts of the university.”

The committee’s primary responsibilities include reviewing the TRC’s report and making recommendations that apply to the university concerning support for aboriginal students, staff, and faculty, including Indigenous material in U of T curricula and Indigenous content in university programming.

The committee will begin meeting this month and has been asked to prepare an interim report by July 1 and offer final recommendations by the end of the calendar year.

The suggestions regarding post-

secondary institutions include journalism programs and media schools requiring students to take courses on the history of Indigenous peoples, creating university and college degree and diploma programs in Indigenous languages, and educating teachers on ways to incorporate aboriginal knowledge and teaching methods in schools.

The recommendations specifically emphasized the need for an enhanced Indigenous programming.

“Enhancing Indigenous programming provides an opportunity for the U of T community to learn more about the people, culture, and issues. Indigenous students will benefit by having specific needs addressed but will also be able to see themselves reflected in the institution,” said Hamilton-Diabo.

“It will be an invitation for others to become engaged. It will also be a chance to learn about, and from, different perspectives that can be found in Indigenous communities, which can contribute to issues that are being addressed in Canada.”

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UTM talks mental health

»DO YOU THINK TUITION

Students participate in #BellLetsTalk to fight stigma

SHOULD BE FREE?

Arynn Marchant 4th year, anthro

Sonia Dhillon Class of 2015

No, it should not be free.

People will take it for granted.

Yes, it should be free. More people will be enticed to further their education.

Gustavo Silva 1st year, crim and PWC

Chanpreet Multani 4th year, crim

There would be negative effects as the government would need to pull money from elsewhere.

Yes, undergraduate tuition should be free.

TWITTER.COM/PHOTO

Bell Let’s Talk Day raised $6,295,764.75 last Wednesday.

KASSANDRA HANGDAAN ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR The Department of Student Housing and Residence Life participated in Bell Let’s Talk Day, a yearly initiative hosted nationwide to raise money and encourage conversation on the topic of mental health.

Bell Let’s Talk, hosted by Bell Canada, is described as the “largest-ever corporate commitment to mental health in Canada, focusing on fighting stigma”. As part of the campaign, Bell pledged to donate five cents for each tweet using the

hashtag #BellLetsTalk on January 27, a commitment that raised $6,295,764.75 this year.

Dana Britton and Catherine Wong, both residence dons, were inspired to host the initiative at UTM to raise awareness of mental health on campus. In an interview with The Medium, Britton said students were very supportive of the event.

“We’ve had a lot of people come by […] and we’re raising lots of money,” said Britton, a fourth-year psychology student.

To support the cause, residence

dons hung posters in OPH reporting facts related to mental health.

According to the posters, “three million Canadians are suffering from depression” and “only one out of five children who need mental health services receives them” in Canada.

Also part of the initiative was a table where students were able to ask questions regarding mental health and were encouraged to write down their comments on the topic of mental health on a sheet of paper, which was later published on UTM Residence’s Twitter page.

Food, flags, and music at Culture Fest Several clubs participated in weeklong activities by UTMSU HAMZAH MOHAMMED

OLIVIA ADAMCZYK/THE MEDIUM

Jams were sold in the farmer’s market held for the Culture Fest.

UTMSU’s second Multicultural Week, now rebranded as Culture Fest, was held last week with a barrage of national flags, traditional foods, and cultural music.

Following the format of last year’s Multicultural Week, campus activities for the Culture Fest opened with a farmers’ market on Monday and closed with the Cultural Show on Thursday, with outdoor skating on Friday as part of Winternational.

Monday’s farmers’ market saw the Student Centre filled with various booths offering organic fruits, vegetables, international teas, honeys, and maple syrup.

On Wednesday, the Student Centre was filled up with students in anticipation of Food Day. Flags from coun-

tries around the world hung from the walls and treats from a variety of cultures were handed out.

Among the clubs present were the Hindu Student Council, the Erindale Italian Club, and the Chinese Students and Scholars Association.

Several different clubs participated in the Cultural Show on Thursday in IB, including the Musical Theatre Club, Caribbean Connections, and Erindale Punjabi Association. Also present was guest performer and Canadian-based singer Karl Wolf.

UTMSU VP campus life Russ Adade said that the reason behind having Karl Wolf as the guest performer was because his music has a universal quality to it as he pays homage to different cultures in his songs.

Tuesday saw a smaller turnout than Monday, but featured students dressed and dancing in traditional garbs. Among the clubs present were the Egyptian Student Association, the Canadian Asian Student Society, and the Muslim Students’ Association.

Culture Fest opened with a farmers’ market on Monday and closed with the Cultural Show on Thursday.

Jian Ghomeshi trial to began today in Toronto court

Facebook to end private gun sales on social networking site

New chair elected to Peel Regional Police Services board

Trump ditches Fox News debate to host fundraiser for veterans

Google paid $6,006.13 to retrive domain after accidentally sold

The trial against Jian Ghomeshi, the ex-host of CBC’s radio program Q, is set to begin today. Facing charges of sexual assault and overcoming resistance by choking, Ghomeshi was fired by CBC in October 2014.

Facebook is now preventing the private sale of guns on its social networking sites including Instagram, which the social media giant owns.

The move is aiming to prevent the sale of guns by unlicenced individuals, although licenced gun salespeople will still be able to post photos of guns for sale on their social media sites.

Amrik Singh Ahluwalia has been elected as the new chair of the Peel Regional Police Services board as of Friday morning. Ahluwalia replaced Laurie Williamson as chair and has been a member of the Peel Regional Police Services board since 2011.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump hosted a fundraiser for veterans on Thursday evening instead of participating in a debate hosted by Fox News only days before the Iowa primary. The decision was made following tension between Trump and the broadcaster after Trump claims he was “treated badly”

by Fox News.

Google paid $6,006.13 to Sanmay Ved after he purchased the domain www. google.com when it accidentally went on sale. Ved purchased the domain for $12, which Google went on to cancel and awarded Ved the payment.

Source: CBC News

Source: New York Times

Source: The Mississauga News

Source: CBC News

Source: ABC News

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02.01.2016

EDITORS

Rage against the dying of the light

Editor-in-Chief Maria Iqbal editor@themedium.ca

When it comes to mental health, is the end goal comfort or strength?

MASTHEAD

Managing Editor Maria Cruz managing@themedium.ca News Nicole Danesi news@themedium.ca A&E Kate Cattell-Daniels arts@themedium.ca Features Farah Qaiser features@themedium.ca Sports Eric Hewitson sports@themedium.ca — Photo Mahmoud Sarouji photos@themedium.ca Design Sarah Yassine design@themedium.ca Copy Akshaya Sharma copy@themedium.ca Online & Blog Corey Belford Kimberly Johnson online@themedium.ca blog@themedium.ca ASSOCIATES News Menna Elnaka Kassandra Hangdaan A&E Hailey Mason Features Mahnoor Ayub Sports Daniel Bilyk Photo Christy Tam Copy Farah Khan Maleeha Iqbal GENERAL STAFF Webmaster Luke Sawczak web@themedium.ca Interim Distribution Manager Eric Hewitson distribution@themedium.ca Ads Manager Mayank Sharma ads@themedium.ca Cartoonist Corey Belford BOARD OF DIRECTORS Maryam Faisal, Jeremy Wu, Leo Jiang, Natalia Ramnarine, Rebecca Xu, Saima Khan (ex-officio), Christine Capewell (ex-officio) COPYRIGHTS 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 necessarily reflect those of The Medium. Additionally, the opinions expressed in advertisements appearing in The Medium are those of advertisers and not of The Medium.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters to the editor will be edited for spelling, grammar, style and coherence. Letters will not exceed 700 words in print. Letters that incite hatred or violence and letters that are racist, homophobic, sexist, or libelous will not be published.

Anonymous letters will not be published.

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To contribute, email editor@themedium.ca

Following up on the story on trigger warnings and letters to the editor on mental health last week and this week, it seems that there’s a lot to consider on the issues of mental health and accommodation, so here’s an attempt to keep the discussion going.

Let me ground my discussion in a recent experience relating to my own grandfather, who is currently back at the hospital after several rounds of being there and returning home, being bedridden for the past month or so.

The decline in my grandfather’s health has been a reminder, among many things, of how vulnerable we all are regardless of our stage in life. It’s not often that I see my parents, aunts, and uncles grapple— really serously struggle—with difficult life questions and become caught in the middle of trying to do what they think is best for their father while also listening to the advice of the palliative care team, which at times contradicts our natural assumptions of what good care entails.

What’s dawned on me these past few days is that a lot of what we debate in terms of trigger warnings, accommodations, and other issues related to mental health is similar to what my family is going through with my grandfather.

On the one hand, palliative care is designed to ensure a per-

son’s comfort. For someone who’s sick, it can mean taking medication to relieve the pain or other symptoms of one’s illness. It is an important type of care that can really help someone for whom there is no other treatment possible or available.

The other side of the story is of course that at the palliative stage, there are no longer any IVs or other medications for actually treating the source of the illness—the underlying cause. The focus is on the individual’s level of comfort,

We as humans are capable of incredible things when we fight for them­—and comfort is one way of developing the strength to do so. not quantity of life or quality of life (whatever that may mean).

For some, that can be taken to mean the equivalent of giving up.

And it seems from the recent letters and stories that a large part of the debate on mental health and accommodations has to do with the question of whether we’re actually helping people deal with trauma or if we’re hurting them by making them oversensitive to issues that inevitably come up in

life. Is the end goal ensuring the comfort of the individual, or supporting the individual in a way that strengthens them to eventually confront those issues?

To be honest, I’m not sure. And it probably depends on each individual person and what he or she is physically, mentally, and emotionally capable of tolerating. Just like in the case of my grandfather, where my family is struggling to determine whether he just needs to be comfortable, or if there’s reason to keep fighting.

I don’t personally think any of us really knows the answer to those questions—how much we can and cannot tolerate—and maybe that’s reason enough to continue struggling. Because, it seems, that comfort as an end in itself will never really allow us to realize what could be our full potential. But if we keep fighting, there’s always the possibility that there’s yet more to achieve. How will we ever know?

As I read in an arts review this week on Rocky Balboa, “The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows.

It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it.

“You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how

hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward.”

Admittedly, mental health is way too complex an issue for a one-size-fits-all answer. But I hope that part of our struggle to address the rising instances of mental health issues among our friends, family, and peers is about recognizing that we as humans are capable of incredible things when we fight for them—and comfort is one way of taking the time to develop the strength to do so.

YOURS, MARIA IQBAL

CORRECTION NOTICE The Jan. 25 article “Bringing manuscripts to your screens” incorrectly said the University of Pennsylvania’s technological development had driven IIIF, but it was actually Stanford’s. The article “Let your muse out: poetry as storytelling” misspelled the names of the performers Spin El Poeta, Shawna Dimitry, and Mofleeka. A letter to the editor published in the same issue used the term “mental health” in several cases where “mental health issues” was intended. A caption in the Jan. 18 article “Code 9—What’s your first response?” incorrectly referred to the person in the picture as Haaka.

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02.01.2016 THE MEDIUM OPINION

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Trigger warnings in the classroom Warnings are helpful when used appropriately, and it seems like we’re doing a good job of it Dear Editor, I want to talk for a moment about trigger warnings. Now, the article published last week in The Medium had some pretty good points from both sides of the argument. Are we going too far with trigger warnings or not? Do they have a place in the syllabus or in lectures? Should trigger warnings be perceived as something potentially detrimental to a student’s learning?

I want to preface this whole thing by saying that this is just my opinion and I’m not necessarily here to fight anyone on the issue. But in light of last week’s article, I’ve been itching to comment on the topic.

In my opinion, trigger warnings are beneficial. But only to an extent.

And even then, I’m aware of how deadly the spread of trigger warnings could be should we allow it to spread into just about everything that we do. I’m going to turn to an article from Aaron R. Hanlon, “My Students Need Trigger Warnings— And Professors Do, Too” published

by The New Republic. Hanlon argues, “Trigger warnings are nevertheless important because no matter how knowledgeable and comfortable professors are with the intellectually and emotionally challenging material we teach, our students are real people with real histories and concerns. They do indeed want to be challenged—to be made uncomfortable by literature—but it’s our job as professors to do more than just expose them to difficult ideas.

It’s our job to help see them through the exposure.” I’m inclined to agree with this idea. A student’s history is

something that can and should be acknowledged.

Last week, we interviewed UTM professors Brent Wood and Chester Scoville, who also brought up great points. Scoville claims, “Calling attention to a text’s potentially disturbing content is a way of framing them; it’s not avoiding difficulty but confronting it.” Wood added that he “wants to be able to deal with emotionally challenging topics” but does not want students “to be so paralyzed with fear that they’re unable to speak”.

An article quoted in our article last week from Dr. Metin Basoglu brings up something I think is more detrimental than a trigger warning: this ignorant view that forcing students to take a look at potentially triggering material and then shrugging your shoulders and going, “Oh, well, you need to look at it in order to grow.” In my opinion, that’s a damaging way of thinking. You are in no position to determine when people should deal with traumatic events. He makes the claim that “avoidance means helplessness” but to some people avoidance means coping. If you don’t want to talk about a damaging time in your life, that doesn’t mean you’re helpless and claiming so is ludicrous.

In my opinion, it doesn’t take much to warn a student on a syllabus that some heavy topics are coming their way. In order for a student, especially one who is dealing with trauma, to get the most out of their university experience, they should be given a simple trigger warning on literature that will discuss something that could be damaging. A

trigger warning doesn’t need to be the caution tape that scares a student away from reading something but it can be the warning to let them know what to expect. And if they’re not ready to talk about something, why force it? The English department isn’t centred around texts on rape or violence so a student opting out of one reading isn’t going to crush their mark.

On the contrary, I’m very aware that this seems like coddling students away from some important literature, which also leads to this notion that they will need to be “babied” in life because they were

We seem to be doing a pretty good job at keeping the warnings on things that include severe cases of triggering content. shielded from topics like rape, violence, and racism. But, as Hanlon mentions, “We have to take [trigger warnings] seriously, not because literature (or life) needs a censor or students need to be coddled, but because being more acutely aware of how students are responding to challenging material is just better and more responsible pedagogy. It’s true that life is triggering and won’t usually come with its own trigger warnings. But students are in their seats in part to be better prepared for that reality, and it’s professors’ jobs to facilitate that kind of intellectual development.”

On the other hand, Jerry A. Coyne wrote an article for TNR titled “Life Is ‘Triggering’. The Best Literature Should Be, Too”, where he writes, “It’s time for students to learn that Life is Triggering. Once they leave college, they’ll be constantly exposed to views that challenge or offend them. There are a lot of jerks out there, and no matter what your politics are, a lot of people will have the opposite view. If you’re an atheist, you’ll live in a world of people whom you see as hostile and delusional believers. If you’re a believer, you’ll encounter vociferous heathens like me. If you’re a feminist, well, sexism is alive and well.” This is something I agree with. His article goes on to discuss how overbearing it would be to include a trigger warning on any stitch of literature we get our hands on. “Crime and Punishment? Trigger warning: brutal violence against an old woman.

The Great Gatsby? Trigger warning: violence against women (remember when Tom Buchanan broke Mrs. Wilson’s nose?). The Inferno? Trigger warning: graphic violence, sodomy, and torture. Dubliners? Trigger warning: pedophilia.”

And it’s here that my stance on the issue is stunted. Where do we draw the line between what should get a trigger warning and what doesn’t?

If we put a trigger warning on texts in English classes will they eventually seep into social science classes?

What about law classes? Would the trigger warning spread like wildfire throughout syllabi if we let it? Maybe. But, these warnings aren’t just in the classrooms. We already have trigger warnings in the media, like

television or movies. We are often told that movies include violence and coarse language and movie trailers often include disclaimers on the extreme violence or disturbing images that will take place.

American History X was rated R for “graphic brutal violence including rape, pervasive language, strong sexuality, and nudity”. Should people who aren’t ready be warned that a movie will contain a prison rape scene? A black man getting curb stomped by a guy with a swastika tattooed on his chest? Well, yeah. It doesn’t hurt to include a warning. Is this going too far? Should we omit the MPAA ratings from films because we’re putting them on every movie and we can’t keep shielding people from the horrors of real life?

Yes, trigger warnings could seep into everyday life to the point where it becomes bombardment if we let it. But, we seem to be doing a pretty good job at keeping the warnings on things that include severe cases of triggering content, which is the way it should be. Acknowledgement of a student’s history is a good step forward in enriching a student’s time here.

The classroom should have trigger warnings. While we may not be able to shield ourselves forever once we leave university, or even the classroom, students can at least have that peace of mind that an institution they’re paying thousands of dollars to be a part of gives a damn if they suffer at the hands of potentially harmful work.

Maria Cruz Managing Editor

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Decolonize me: rewriting with film Blackwood Gallery supports their current exhibition with free film screenings and roundtables ANDREEA MIHAI STAFF WRITER Has the moment of decolonialism passed? Or is it still going on, bringing up questions of former colonists’ responsibility to reconcile some of the violence?

The Blackwood Gallery’s film screening series “We Must Invent”: Film and the Unfinished Project of Decolonization explores how African filmmakers reflect on those questions.

The series is in context with Maryam Jafari’s The Day After, an exhibit that looks at 30 years of the postcolonial movement through photos. The Blackwood Gallery teamed up with UTM African history professor Julia MacArthur to curate the series.

“The question of decolonization is a question that I think resonates in Canadian history as well,” MacArthur says. “The settler’s politics and indigenous histories that we have in our country are similar to these issues being grappled with on the African continent.”

The Blackwood Gallery screened Swedish director Göran Olsso’s 2014 documentary Concerning Violence to begin the series last Wednesday in the e|gallery. The filmmaker put together archival footage from the ’60s and

“We Must Invent” searches for answers in independence narratives. ’70s with Franz Fanon’s 1960s text The Wretched of the Earth.

Fanon worked as psychiatrist in an Algerian hospital in the 1950s during the war of independence. His experience influenced his text; The Wretched of the Earth contains a chapter called “Consequence of Violence”, which inspired the documentary. Singer and activist Lauryn Hill narrates that chapter in the film.

Olsso includes footage of interviews with the guerrilla soldiers of

FRELIMO in Mozambique, the everyday experiences of those fighting for independence, and the views of white settlers in South Africa and Rhodesia.

Much of the footage features closeups of speakers’ faces. In an interview with one of the guerilla fighters, the man smiles when he talks about how the medical training he’s learned will contribute to guerillas’ fight for freedom. When he stops speaking, the camera rests on his face as he looks down and the smile disappears, al-

ANDREEA MIHAI/THE MEDIUM

most as if he’s turned inward to his doubts not voiced in the interview.

As a documentary, Concerning Violence includes direct images that disturb in their honest portrayal of the effects of violence. For instance, Olsso chose to include a sequence that focuses on a mother and child injured in a bombing. The camera focuses on the mother’s sad yet expressionless face.

The camera then pulls away to show the raw stump below her shoulder. A baby waving its arms fills the screen.

The camera pulls away to show the baby has lost its leg above the knee.

The last image of the mother nursing her child after their wounds have been bandaged conveys a sense of loss and powerlessness to the viewer.

Olsso’s choice to include footage that offers close-ups of people’s faces, dancing scenes, sharing a bottle of water, and guerilla soldiers marching through the forest juxtaposes the humanity of those fighting for their freedom with the violence they encounter.

Towards the end of the documentary, Olsso includes an interview with Thomas Sankara, a Burnikabé military captain. The off-screen interviewer asks why Sankara has refused food support. Sankara responds that food donations of corn or milk from other countries are not true food support. True food support would be donations of shovels, plows, irrigations systems, and farming tools to rebuild the decolonized nations.

Olsso makes the archival footage of Sankara’s interview relevant to today’s audiences with the way he coordinates Franz’s text to explore the lingering violences and injustices of the postcolonial world.

The next film screenings will be on Wednesday and February 24.

So what kind of a writer are you, exactly?

UTM professor Robert Price discusses labels, poets, and communication in light of new book KATE CATTELL-DANIELS A&E EDITOR I sit across from Professor Robert Price in his tiny office in CCT as he twists a black ballpoint pen between his fingers. I ask him when he started writing poetry. “A long time ago…

When I was a kid, and in high school.

There was a girl I liked. She didn’t like [my poetry] but I kept doing it anyway.”

Price, a professional writing professor at UTM, has just published a book of poetry entitled Tandem Bicycle.

“I’m not a poet,” Price says. “I don’t want to be called a poet.” So what is he, then? “I’m a writer.” Price says he isn’t afraid of publication, per se, but he does think about how others will interpret the work. “Is this a mistake?

Am I saying what I think I’m saying?” he asks.

I leave Price’s office armed with my very own copy of Tandem Bicycle.

Price’s writing doesn’t seem at all interested in the romanticisms of poetry. The subject matter is mostly about the everyday comings and goings of the world. Nothing is abstract. I ask Price if there are recurring themes in his writing. “Probably,” he replies.

“You’ll have to read it and tell me.”

The most important theme, I think,

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Tandem Bicycle is a detail-focused collection. is quite simply human experience.

Life, in the grand scheme of things, is a nanosecond consisting of millions of tiny details, moments, and events.

It’s gone almost before you realize it was there. The mission of Tandem Bicycle is to catch all those details and hold them still.

The content of the poems varies: some are tiny, having to do with oranges, or a woman leaving her clothing around the house. On the surface, it’s petty. Below that surface, it’s refreshing to see things from the de-

tail-oriented perspective of someone else. Price says that poetry is “more emotional than intellectual”, but that form is still important. He argues that a writer can word-vomit as much as they want as a form of emotional release, but that a poem ultimately has to have some kind of rhythm and musicality.

This respect for structure can be seen throughout Price’s work. Although I would describe the form as free verse, the work is also inherently dedicated to form. There are subtle

rhymes, many of them internal or imperfect, as well as an obvious dedication to music and flow in the lines themselves. I can get very irritated by deliberate form in poetry—I find it both hard to read and almost impossible to write. Some people would probably just call me lazy, but that’s not my point. My point is that there are times when it works extremely well. I think, like all things, form in moderation is perfectly acceptable.

That is the balance that is struck in Tandem Bicycle.

Price says that ultimately, poetry is about communication. “You can’t control how other people will read your work,” he says, acknowledging that sometimes the author’s intention when writing a poem will “[miss] the ear” or the reader entirely. I don’t know if I’m getting everything out of Tandem Bicycle that Price intended for me to get.

My taste generally leans towards short poems as opposed to longer ones. But Price, in his title poem “Tandem Bicycle”, completely seduces me. It takes the enormous idea of a life journey and manages to break it down into bite-sized images and moments. It is the adding up of small parts that allows for the whole to be sustained. I have trouble shaking the lines from my head: “We could talk about tomorrow or say nothing, / lie in the sun of each other’s arms / for a year of warmth and paradise, / then travel home and shower until the water’s cold / and sleep together on wrinkled sheets.”

Price says his poetry is “usually pretty bad”, but frankly I’m not convinced. The words on the page are simple, but the ideas behind them are not.

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REWIND CHRISTOPHER ANTILOPE

Rocky Balboa. “The Italian Stallion.” Anything you call him is a name of legend. It has been 40 years since Sylvester Stallone, an underdog actor and writer, finally won the fight against Hollywood to make a movie that was very important to him. The movie, which mimicked Stallone’s real life, tells the tale of an underdog hero trying to get by in the dreary streets of 1970s Philadelphia. In the City of Brotherly Love, there’s really not much love to go around. But what does Rocky mean?

When you first lay eyes on Rocky, he’s a boxer with passion that can easily knock out his opponents. But out of the ring, Rocky’s a soft, socially awkward, yet optimistic guy that could be considered a bum.

If you know Rocky for being the World Heavyweight Champion, then you don’t know or remember his extremely humble beginnings.

While watching the 1976 film, you have to ask yourself, “Is this really the guy that becomes one of the most famous (fictitious) boxers in the world?”

Rocky’s got a slow start, an example of the simple, isolated, and fairly dull lives of those living in Philly.

However, as the film progresses, you start to see yourself in the titular character trying to become the best at something he loves.

Fast forward 40 years from the original Rocky to Ryan Coogler’s

Creed and where do we have our champion? Permanently out of the boxing ring and still running “Adrian’s”, Rocky’s Italian restaurant named after his now-deceased wife. Without spoiling the film, which has Sylvester Stallone nominated for Best Supporting Actor, I’ll say that audiences are treated once again to the original underdog story of Rocky, but this time it’s twofold, as both Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone play the underdog.

I would like to leave off on something very raw and real featured in Stallone’s comeback film 10 years ago, Rocky Balboa. In it, Rocky gives his most famous speech, which the entire Rocky franchise stands for: “The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now, if you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody.”

I dare you to tell me that does not resonate with you.

MMMM

Stretching the canvas AGM gets gallery-goers moving with on-site yoga classes

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AGM offers both art and fitness.

RIAUD ABDUL

I enter the dark hallways of Mississauga City Hall, guided by the illuminated AGM. Just a week ago, these halls were bustling with people drinking and engaging in conversation as the gallery opened its new show. On January 20, however, the AGM dedicated gallery space to a whole other purpose.

“Art of Yoga”, somewhat an introduction to yoga, is hosted on one Wednesday per month. Fees are minimal—a donation is encouraged as all proceeds are returned to the gallery. However, all are welcome.

Salimah Kassim-Lakha, yoga therapist of 10 years, leads the class as an alternative means of appreciating the gallery’s work and as a way

to introduce the experience of yoga.

The form practiced tonight is known as the “Kundalini” style of yoga. Kassim-Lakha explains that this form is meant to “raise consciousness and awareness” of the body and its energy. While other forms traditionally focus on tuning up the body, this one focuses on coming to terms with the body, and its philosophy adheres strongly to appreciating and recognizing one’s mantra, and meditating.

She expresses that the gallery is a “community space” where the art’s presence is key as it represents the community’s work and the environment assists with concentration during the session. The atmosphere is tranquil, and the acoustics really complement the chanting and the melodies provided with each stretch and breathing exercise. During the

class, deep breathing is a major focus as participants are encouraged to concentrate on releasing the day’s stress and clearing the mind of any thoughts. There is spiritual chanting and calming music throughout which to help relieve stress.

I was originally slightly skeptical regarding yoga, but Kassim-Lakha makes her point clear when she says that an art that has been practiced this long must be beneficial in some manner; otherwise it just wouldn’t have such widespread longevity. Walking in, I had the weight of classes, graduation, and work on my shoulders. As I sat down and went through the positions, those concerns dissipated and were replaced by concentration.

Kassim-Lakha’s next class at the AGM is scheduled for February 10.

UTM: the petri dish of culture on campus Culture Show takes audience members around the world with a variety of music and dance numbers NOOR AL-LABABIDI Culture Fest turned this campus into a party zone last week. The vibrant costumes of the performers alone caught the audience’s eyes as they snuck around the lecture halls quietly to get to the makeshift backstage of the Cultural Show in IB 110 on Thursday. The jingling of some of the costumes amid the black velvet backdrop and changing coloured spotlights was enough to hush the fervent crowd of students.

The event began with a fashion show. The Association of Palestinian Students walked down the center of the stage in their traditional black, white, and red wear. The Hindu Student Council presented their array of vividly coloured dresses fitted at the top with an A-line skirt falling just above the ankles, and the Somali Student Association came in with exuberant personalities that shone through their brightly patterned, loose-fitting garments.

The next performance, a dance by a group called The Classical Girls, was a traditional number “mostly done in temples for a god” with poise and elegance, as one of the members, Shreya Ramesh, in-

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Students explore the many ways culture can be expressed through art. dicated. The soundtrack was fused with common beats from mainstream hip-hop culture, giving the conventional dance a sprinkle of modernity.

Several other cultural performances from the Association of Palestinian Students, the Erindale Campus African Students Association, Caribbean Connections, and In the Ends incorporated a modern twist in their audio effects combined

with traditional choreography.

A dance group called Rhythm took to the stage to take the audience on a “trip around the world” as the MC for the night put it, and let us feast on the exotic flavours of Indian, samba, belly dancing, tango, and hip-hop genres that the group had prepared.

When asked what most stood out to him, UTMSU president Ebi Agbeyegbe said he enjoyed the HSC

performance the most, referring to it as “a Bollywood movie on stage” that included elaborate costume changes. They presented a narrative play-by-play dance about a traditional Indian love story and wedding that group member Kanchan Bhimani said was meant to show the details about marriage in Indian culture to show the audience how it is unique compared to marriage customs in other parts of the world.

A highlight of the night was the performance by special guest Karl Wolf, who in a private interview said he was “humbled” to have been asked by UTMSU to come out and play for our enthusiastic family of students, and indicated how excited he was to be contributing to the community something valued and promoted around the campus.

Wolf ’s performance consisted of popular tracks including “Africa” and “Yalla Habibi”, meaning “Let’s go, my love” as he explained midsong to the audience. The lively crowd roared along with the songs in celebration of common ground despite the differences in their cultural mosaic. In the interview, Wolf said that he chose the tracks based on their popularity and to showcase his own cultural background.

Wolf sealed the festive aura of the night with another popular track called “Mash It Up”. Audience members gushed over the exciting events of the night that left their spirits uplifted as they left the hall. It was a memorable and successful evening filled with strokes of culture that will remain a long time in the minds of those who attended.

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THE MEDIUM 02.01.2016

What’s under the bed Indie video game proves equally creepy and sophisticated

CHRISTINE SHARMA

Did you know that there is a proper word for a vain, conceited man?

Until taking ENG322: Fiction before 1832, I didn’t either.

In Memoirs of a Coxcomb, John Cleland explores masculinity and femininity. His protagonist, William Delamore (the coxcomb), is a part of the 18th century European elite. William has very few and very superficial interests: women, pleasure, and entertainment.

Although the beginning of the story sets you up for a typical boymeets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boyand-girl-are-reunited plotline, Memoirs of a Coxcomb fills the audience in with what the “boy”, William, experiences in his boyloses-girl phase. When the budding coxcomb heads into the city, he finds other ways to spend his time than in looking for his love, Lydia.

I kid you not, the novel follows William and his rich male friends on their excursions to bars, brothels, parties, and other women’s houses. These excursions of young, vain, rich men are what Cleland refers to as “coxcombry”.

The book deals with gender roles and gender identity as William discovers what it means to be a “man” and what it means to be a “woman”.

Often, traditional gender roles and stereotypes are slightly skewed, which is progressive for a book written in 1751.

William encounters women who are independent, confident, and sure of themselves, and he is all the more attracted to them for those traits. It is implied that William even sleeps with many of them. On the other hand, he is usually concerned about his appearance, his and others’ emotions, and about gossip.

This novel serves as a social critique of the elite in the time period.

Coxcombs did not have jobs. Instead, they would live off their inheritances that preserved their spot as a part of the upper class, and use that money to partake in pleasurable activities—very bourgeois.

Though the book was written in 1751, William and Lydia’s romance seems pretty modern to me. When they reunite at the end of the novel, all of his coxcombry is set aside.

They don’t talk about the fact that William spent his time without Lydia sleeping with other women, they just get back together.

This is all well and good, but what I wonder is, does a modern form of coxcombry exist today?

And nowadays are only men susceptible to coxcombry, or women, too?

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Undertale takes gamers on a journey through a battle-scarred world.

ANTON MYKYTENKO

Disclaimer: for the sake of the experience, I will do my best not to spoil anything.

Undertale is an indie video game developed by music producer Toby Fox with art contributions from Temmie Chang. You play a human child who falls down through a cave into the Ruins—a small portion of the Underground where monsters have been banished after a decisive war.

By exploring your surroundings and talking to characters throughout the game, you are exposed to the history of the war and the struggles of the monsters. Warning: it’s sad.

The game switches between an adventure/puzzle-solver, an RPG, and an arcade bullet-hell. To some this may sound like a disorganized mess of genres, but Undertale blends them seamlessly into fluid gameplay. You travel through the Underground, solving puzzles and interacting with characters and objects (sometimes both at once). Once you enter a “battle”, you switch to an RPG-style screen, with options to fight, act, use an item, or show mercy (spare). After each turn, you will face an attack that you must play through in order to

take another turn. In those instances, you control a red heart sprite, which is described as your SOUL—the very culmination of your being. Attacks vary from dodging dogs and jumping through a scrolling platformer to standing absolutely still.

As far as graphics go, you’ll immediately notice that Undertale— like many other indie games—takes the retro approach. However, the art style varies throughout the game.

Some sprites will look like they were programmed for the Atari, and others will have pixel shading so creepy you’ll think you’re in Amnesia. One shop background in particular looks like it had a lot more work put into it than the rest. And you’d think these kinds of inconsistencies would make the game look unfocused, but it only adds to the charm. Being able to laugh at a goofy cat drawing and simultaneously be in awe of a distant castle gives the game a wide range of emotional variety.

Undertale is unique in that you can technically beat the game without fighting anyone at all. The “battle” system is more of an interaction system.

You can fight and kill monsters, but you can also act—perform different actions towards different monsters until you are able to spare them. In

the game’s canon, monsters are weaker than humans in several ways. They are essentially at your mercy. The game’s ability to teach empathy also stems from this idea. If you choose to go through the game killing, monsters will act vastly differently towards you than if you do a pacifist run. The story and the ending also change dramatically.

The only problems I have with Undertale are its length and its lack of diversity in the puzzles. The game compensates for its length by having multiple endings. To its credit, it does try to make the experience different each time. The genocide run is still a huge grind though. And the puzzles you’ll encounter are not a challenge at all. The game makes up for it by having challenging boss monsters, but that’s not a substitute for people looking to solve more puzzles.

Regardless, Undertale is still one of my favourite games. For every interaction, you can expect a funny, unusual, or just plain silly reaction. Every character, no matter how minor, is full of personality.

At one point I found myself feeling bad for a snowman, so I vowed to take a piece of him to the end of the game with me.

Welcome to Undertale.

Flipping out over poetics Poetry slam and deathmatch bring out the best of Streetsville ZARA RIZWAN Take the 44N down to Streetsville and you’ll find yourself at Cuchulainn’s, the home of Mississauga’s monthly poetry slam. Organized by We Flip Tables, an art collective run

by Matt Miller and Brent Peers, the slam serves to unite GTA-based artists.

Last Wednesday’s slam began with an open mic segment consisting of poets, musicians, and rappers.

Miller kicked the night off with a poem about falling in love with an undertaker, followed by first-time performer Rema Saba reading poetry. Dr. Woohoo, otherwise known as UTM English professor Brent Wood, performed an original song inspired

by Celtic mythology.

As the open mic came to an end, the poetry death match began. Two poets compete, five judges vote,

and the poet with the majority vote moves on to the next round. Poets compete in the death match for a chance to become part of the We Flip Tables’ slam team and represent Mississauga at the 2016 Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in Winnipeg.

“A suburban team has never won so I’d like us to be the first,” Miller said. The Mississauga team placed eighth at the championship last year.

The death match featured four slam poets: The P.O.E, Same Difference, Tasha, and UTM student Nancie Jona as Queen Vaus. Tasha began the first round with a piece about childhood sexual assault, though she lost to The P.O.E, who won the crowd over with an energetic poem containing an abundance of pop culture references. Same Difference pumped the crowd up with a string of rhymes and alliteration, but Queen Vaus won the vote of all five

judges with a poem about breaking racial stereotypes. In the final round, The P.O.E performed a poem about the hope that there is for humanity, but Queen Vaus took the cake with a love letter to herself. She maintained a solid balance between vulgar humour, tragedy, and optimism.

To finish off the night was featured poet Patrick de Belen, the 2012 national champion of the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. De Belen’s poems came from a personal place, dealing primarily with his experience facing racism as a FilipinoCanadian growing up in Toronto.

He spoke on issues ranging from the myth of multiculturalism to the internalized racism that plagued him as a youth.

The We Flip Tables Poetry Slam occurs on the last Wednesday of every month at 158 Queen Street South.

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Confessions from the other side Students confess to anonymous pages constantly—but whom are they actually confessing to?

FARAH QAISER FEATURES EDITOR This week, The Medium reached out to the students behind UTM’s most popular anonymous social media pages to discuss their experiences running their respective pages, the ethical decisions they have to make regarding submissions, and their thoughts on cyber-bullying and censorship. Pages such as Spotted at UTM, uMentioned UTM, and UTMers were approached.

The latter two page administrators agreed to speak to The Medium but only on the condition of anonymity.

UMENTIONED UTM While many may believe that uMentioned UTM is one of a kind, the reality is that there are uMentioned pages at several other campuses. Originally started at Queens University, this popular anonymous social network is dedicated to postsecondary students across Canada and even the U.S. The uMentioned network consists of a website, a mobile app, and a dedicated Facebook page to each branch. uMentioned has received funding through various sources, including a $25k award through the Canadian Fall 13 Velocity Fund Finals.

When the uMentioned UTM page was founded in 2012, there was only

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uMentioned UTM and UTMers are just two of the anonymous UTM Facebook pages. one admin. However, a second admin joined in December 2012. When the first admin chose to step down due to other priorities, the second admin stayed on and has now been responsible for the uMentioned UTM page for almost four years. Today, the Facebook page has 3,525 followers.

“I ended up joining because I was very interested in this phenomenon of social media, especially that it’s anonymous. That was just the spark

for me—this is so new. We’re always entering new stages on social media and technology, and in terms of the university’s student market, this was the next big thing,” says the admin.

Examples of the different pages available in this network include uMentioned Western, uMentioned Waterloo, and uMentioned Harvard.

Despite UTM being a smaller campus, “[UTM’s] popularity [is] comparable [to larger universities]—that’s

interesting to see because, in terms of social media, you would expect the bigger universities to have more presence but we really pushed the UTM page out there,” says the admin.

The pages’ admins have together developed a set of ethical, quality, and professional standards regarding posts and how much time should be dedicated to administration duties.

This was to ensure that the page was “well-branded and that [it remained]

positive”.

Providing a safe and anonymous atmosphere is a high priority for the page. “You [face] a lot of things like cyber-bullying, negative posts, [or] when students use this [page] to attack other students,” says the admin, adding that it’s challenging when there is only one person managing the page. “There’s a lot of judgement that [the admins] have to make and we really have to decide what’s ethical and what’s not,” the admin adds.

According to uMentioned UTM, in 2013, there was a case of cyber-bullying between two U of T students that was significant enough to reach the U of T administration.

“We had to step in and decide whether we really wanted to breach our confidentiality for the sake of U of T handling this situation between the two students,” says the admin. In this specific case, the name of the student was released, because given the seriousness of the situation, the admins believed it was necessary.

The page receives a variety of submissions, ranging from confessions to jokes, recommendations for “bird” courses, looking for lost items, and promoting events or elections, but not all submissions are posted.

Anon continued on page 13

Welcome to Canada: come study with us Second WUSC student Alice Kasem recounts tales of the Syrian civil war and living in Lebanon HIBA TRABOULSI

On January 24, Alice Kasem arrived in Canada to continue her educational journey at UTM, leaving her parents, brother, 22, and sister, 7, behind in Lebanon.

Kasem is the second refugee student to arrive at UTM this academic year. Her arrival was sponsored through the World University Service of Canada, an organization dedicated to providing student refugees with an accessible education and UTMSU’s local WUSC local committee, which is funded through a student levy.

Back in Syria, Kasem had been in her fourth year of university as a pharmacy student. If she had continued studying and taken summer semesters, Kasem would have graduated in one year and a half. But when the Syrian civil war escalated, she and her family were forced to flee to Lebanon in December of 2014.

“I thought [that the civil war] was a small thing, like everyone did. It’ll pass in a week or two. But we ended up staying in Syria, during the war, for four years,” said Kasem.

MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUM

Before fleeing to Lebanon, Alice Kasem was a fourth-year pharmacy student.

In Syria, Kasem witnessed a bomb that landed in front of her 22-yearold brother. Fortunately, it didn’t explode.

“If it did, he would be dead right now,” she said.

Kasem also mentioned that previously, her favourite hobbies included playing piano, but that all changed

within the span of four years. “I stopped practicing piano because I couldn’t go to the institution because of how dangerous the roads were.

I couldn’t read either, because you needed the mood to read,” she said.

The Kasem family could no longer stay in Syria because of the bombing, constant fear of kidnappings, and

the lack of electricity. However, they didn’t feel safe after arriving in Lebanon, either.

“They mistreated Syrians, especially in the refugee camps. And if they see that your car is Syrian, they start harassing you in the car,” she recalled.

According to Kasem, Syrians cannot work in Lebanon, as several Leb-

anese citizens believe that Syrians will “sabotage” the economy. This meant that Kasem’s father was left without a job for the time being. Additionally, Kasem did not continue her studies in Lebanon, saying that at that point, her family was still thinking of travelling.

“It’s so hard to live in a place that you know you’re not settling in,” she said. “You feel like you just want to go out, find a job, and move on.

“We didn’t want to live [in Lebanon]—and if you want to continue your education in a place, you’ll have to stick in that place,” Kasem said.

“All my friends who are still in Syria graduated, but my family’s position was that education is important, but safety is more important.”

In March 2015, Kasem and her family decided to apply for resettlement in Canada through the UN Refugee Agency. The family’s files were selected for the resettlement program, which was followed by a series of interviews. The next step would finalize their arrival to Canada—a call from the Canadian embassy.

WUSC continued on page 13

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“Out of our shelters! Out of our lives!”

Abji discusses history of violence against immigrant women Feminist Lunch Hour series ANDREEA MIHAI STAFF WRITER In 2005, Isabel Garcia took her two children and fled to Canada from Mexico to escape her abusive exhusband. Garcia had made a refugee claim—but it was denied. To avoid deportation, she and her children went underground in Toronto.

Salina Abji, a U of T doctoral candidate in sociology, spoke at last Thursday’s Feminist Lunch Hour about feminist efforts to address violence against women like Garcia, who have no immigration status.

Abji shared a chapter of her dissertation with the audience, which offered a look at the social sanctuary campaign that ran from 2008 to 2011 in Canada.

In 2008, a coalition of 200 feminists and migrant rights workers met to march in protest for the rights of women with no immigration status.

They carried signs that said, “Let the Garcias stay”.

The activists were responding to the growing incidence of border guards entering women’s shelters to investigate and deport non-status women and their families. Activists argued that all women should be able to access safety from violence regardless of their status.

“Out of our shelters! Out of our lives!” is a slogan that comes from the social sanctuary campaign—and

OLIVIA ADAMCZYK/THE MEDIUM

Salina Abji spoke at last week’s Feminist Lunch Hour event. that is the focus of Abji’s chapter.

To study the case of the social sanctuary campaign, Abji depended on campaign material (such as video, posters, and pamphlets), policy directives, and newspaper reports.

“I argue that [the case] is significant for multiple reasons,” Abji said. “This is the first major public alliance that we see between statefunded non-profit, non-partisan, anti-violence organizations, like the

YWCA and women shelters, and activists from a group called ‘No One Is Illegal’. ” No One Is Illegal challenges the state’s right to enforce borders and control migration. The group argues that no nation state has a legitimate right to render someone illegal.

Unfortunately, the campaign was unable to stop the Garcia family’s deportation.

In October 2010, following re-

ports that border-crossing guards went in a shelter to deport a refugee claimant, advocates from the campaign spoke to the Toronto chapter of the Canada Border Services Agency.

The CBSA then sent out a directive stating that no border guards were to enter women’s shelters.

Two months after, the CBSA national headquarters responded to the directive with a new national

policy. The policy states that immigration officers do have the authority to enter a women’s shelter, subject to a series of considerations. The local director of the Toronto chapter of the CBSA was fired a short while later.

While researching the campaign material, Abji found a shift in the No One Is Illegal campaign’s approach to the politics of state responsibility.

In the beginning, the campaign had approached the state as the protector, and appealed to the state’s responsibility to uphold human rights and expand state responsibility to include all women, regardless of their status.

Towards the end of the campaign, advocates adopted a post-national approach. The post-national approach reframed the state as a perpetrator of violence. This approach saw borders and exclusivity as fundamentally unjust and deportation as violence against women. In fact, the campaign’s slogan “Out of our shelters! Out of our lives!” reflects the post-national approach the campaign took.

Abji suggested that the model of the nation state “is so deeply entrenched” that it is just as difficult to imagine a post-nation state today as it was difficult for people living in a feudal structure to imagine a different world.

Diving into the phenomenon of vagueness Vagueness can be found littered within the law, professional communication, and daily speech FARIDA ABDELMEGUIED

Last Wednesday, Professor Diana Raffman from the Department of Philosophy presented a talk on vagueness, addressing the central question, “What is vagueness and why should we care about it?”

Raffman was recently awarded UTM’s 2015 Research Excellence Award, which honors excellence in teaching at an undergraduate level. This faculty award recognizes several qualities, including the individual’s ability to stimulate student minds and teach material effectively.

To begin, Raffman expressed that although there was disagreement within the academic community on the definition of “vagueness”, she would define it as the property of a word possessing “blurred boundaries of application”.

Examples of vagueness she noted include the words “adult”, “tall”, “blue”, and “green”. She pointed out that several examples of vagueness can be found within law, communication, and the moral domain.

When talking about how vagueness is frequently blamed for many problems within the aforementioned areas, she claims that it was actually the property of tolerance that was to blame. The property of tolerance is the propensity to tolerate small differences or the appli-

MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUM

Examples of vagueness include the words “adult”, “tall”, “blue”, and “green”. cation across incremental changes on a decisive dimension—the tendency to “treat likes alike”.

This tolerance principle leads to what is called the sorites paradox— where, interestingly, “paradox” is being defined as an argument in which all premises are true and reasoning is impeccable, yet we still end up with a “contradictory conclusion”.

The sorites paradox is as follows:

if 90 years is old, then 90 minus one day is old, and if 90 minus one day is old, 90 minus two days is old, and if 90 minus two days is old, then 90 minus three days is old, and so on and so forth, until we reach the conclusion that 10 years is old. This is the major premise of this paradox—that 10 years is old.

Through her own research, Raffman created an analogous scenario.

Palettes were presented, ranging

from evidently blue to evidently green, to research subjects. Raffman then asked her subjects to state whether each palette was blue, green, or unclear/unsure.

Among Raffman’s findings was the idea of hysteresis within the sorites paradox, which explains that depending how a subject judges the second palette, the first one will be the same.

For example, if a subject said one

was blue, and was asked to return to the one they previously categorized, they will say it’s blue, even if they said green in the previous trial.

She also discovered how tolerance comes into play and falsifies the major premise of the paradox.

Raffman concluded her lecture by saying that vagueness is not paradoxical as the major premise of the sorites paradox is false. According to Raffman, vagueness allows us to talk about the constantly changing world that surrounds us.

The world is not categorized, and this vagueness allows us to make categorizations that are compatible with continuous change. In terms of vagueness within the law, such issues don’t arise from vagueness of language; they arise from the need of the law to be precise.

The audience was largely composed of faculty and staff with a few students. During the Q and A portion, Raffman was asked whether the tolerance principle can be applied to grades, and the example given was that of a 69 percent or a 70 percent (to which she answered no, because grades have already been arbitrarily specified).

The idea of vagueness, why it matters, and how we can approach it is an intriguing one that I believe will continue to be debated in the future, as it holds significance in various fields.

02.01.2016 THE MEDIUM FEATURES» 13

Being Big Brother isn’t straightforward Anon continued from page 11 “Unfortunately, people lose things so often on campus that the page cannot turn into UTM lost and found,” says the admin. “There are a lot of posts that I feel are irrelevant to the page, which I filter out.

“We cannot be UTM events and announcements,” adds the admin.

“It was challenging for me in terms of conflict of interest. For example, if I’m organising an event on campus and I really want a lot of people to know about it and come, I also know that the best page to post it is my own page. I can just post it—but I never did any of that. I tried to keep my personal life and this social identity separate, but it’s so tempting.”

Regarding UTM’s other anonymous social media pages, the admin has one concern: whether the pages maintain the same level of confidentiality for all submissions. “I’m not sure what is going on behind the scenes,” says the admin. “But [I’m] just hoping for the best.”

After 2013, a lot of the admins behind the uMentioned pages have left their positions, leaving the uMentioned network to be “a bit more scattered” according to the student. uMentioned UTM’s admin did take over a few of the “dead” pages and attempted to keep the confessions going. At one point, the admin was responsible for 10 different college and university anonymous social media pages.

The admin still has access to all of them, but chose to step down about one and a half years ago and now focuses solely on UTM. As for the future of uMentioned UTM, the admin has not made a final decision yet, but believes that following graduation, the page will likely be left behind in order to uphold the original commitment to confidentiality for all previously submitted

confessions.

With terms such as marketing and strategy being thrown around, it’s likely that the uMentioned UTM admin may have a commerce background. When asked, the admin laughs and says, “My studies in commerce really helped me in terms of marketing and business strategic approaches—you need to know [that] your market is university students and [face] the challenges of new people coming in and graduating all the time. So how do you grow an online community with a population that is changing 25 percent every year?”

The admin has occasionally added this role in resumes as an “entrepreneurship” project, only for off-campus jobs.

“It’s so hard to hide myself on campus,” says the admin. “I ran in five different elections in the last four years. My pictures are everywhere. […] I try to support a lot of non-profit initiatives on campus so it’s been such a challenge to try and stay quiet.

“It’s not a big deal to me if people find out—I’m not trying to hide it or anything,” the student adds. “If students find out, I hope that they still trust me, in terms of confidentiality.

Because trust is the only reason we could have lasted for four years.”

UTMERS Launched in August 2014, UTMers is an anonymous Facebook social media page with 712 followers that has a combination of humorous posts and posts regarding student politics.

The page is manned by a single admin who wanted to do their part in “increasing school spirit”, commenting that they believe that the page is another “platform to get people to talk together or to just reflect on things that we can all relate to”.

The admin also admits that there is a second reason behind the page: that they “need[ed] something [extra] to do”.

The admin behind UTMers hopes that the page is a combination of “thought-provoking, funny, and worthwhile” posts, noting that “it is a privilege to be on people’s walls”.

To submit an anonymous post to the page, students have two options: to message the page directly (where the admin can see the student’s Facebook profile) or through Google Drive (where the admin can only see the date and time of submission). The page’s content tends to be picture-based, as UTM students already have a lot of readings to do, so the admin wants “to keep the readings short”. However, all bets are off when it’s an important topic, as the admin will “still try to keep it short” but provide all relevant information, too.

While UTMers’ real identity remains a secret to most of the UTM student population, the admin has informed a few friends about this secret in order to keep “[the page] in check […] because when you’re anonymous on the Internet, fully anonymous, you can write some crazy stuff ”.

“Though [my friends have] never told me [any] thing about [any] one of my posts [crossing a line], it’s just good to have people know who I am.

To keep me balanced in the content,” the student said.

However, when asked about the fact that friends may be less likely to call out the admin on posts that may cross a moral line, UTMers says, “I don’t feel like I need calling out. I’m trying to be as less biased [as possible] but [it’s] impossible to be completely unbiased. But I don’t think that I have anything super wrong with my opinions.”

In fact, several drafts are only

Kasem hopes to return to hobbies WUSC continued from page 11 “[It had] been almost a year. But back then, Canada wasn’t taking people, and even though they weren’t taking people, we insisted. The interviewer said that they might not take us in a year but we said [that] it’s okay, because we really wanted Canada,” Kasem said.

The Kasem family insisted on moving to Canada because of the language, the culture, and the people.

“My father had a great job in Syria, so he could work here [in Canada].

My mother also has an Arabic literature degree from college, and they really want to come here,” she added.

After not hearing back from the Canadian embassy, Kasem decided to apply for the WUSC program last July. After an initial approval, a test in the embassy, and an oral interview, she was selected for the WUSC program.

“I picked it because it was part of my plan—me and my family are going to Canada,” said Kasem. “Sometimes you just want a point to start and I got this big opportunity.”

When asked about her family, Kasem told The Medium that they are still in Lebanon.

“Leaving my 7-year-old sister was one of the hardest things I had to do. She was so mature about it, even though she was hurt from inside. The day that I left, she said, ‘I don’t want to cry because I don’t want to make you cry.’

“That’s the only reason that Dad allowed me to go before them, or if they even come, because they feel bad. I lost three years of school because of war. They just wanted me to move on with my life, even though their situation in Lebanon is not good,” she said.

When asked about her thoughts of Canada so far, Kasem smiled.

“I was so happy when I came here.

I wanted to be talked to like I was a normal person. I have a life. I had a house. I had a car. I had everything.

They’re just gone. I didn’t come from a tent. Some people don’t know the difference. A refugee is just someone whose war came to his country, so he had to move. A refugee is not stupid or sick,” she said.

When asked how she’s finding UTM so far, Kasem said that she felt overwhelmed by the amount of support she’s received axnd said that “the welcoming was very beautiful. A lot of people are trying to help. You real-

ly feel like you could be friends with them. […] [It doesn’t] feel like they’re doing this out of pity.”

At UTM, WUSC sponsors the refugee’s student’s fees for their entire first year. In her first week at UTM, Kasem isn’t worried about future payments since her main concern lies in finding and settling into courses that count towards her degree.

Kasem is aware that her options include taking on a job next year, or applying for a loan.

“I don’t mind having a job. If I can do both, studying and a job, then that’s fine,” said Kasem.

Kasem hopes to continue her pharmaceutical studies and for her family to join her soon in Canada. She is also looking forward to accomplishing things that she wasn’t able to do because of the war, saying, “I want to go back to the mood where I can pick up a paper and write. But I also want to try skiing and skating. I also look forward to trying new foods.

“I used to read, play piano, and sing. I was really happy. I lost that because of [the] war, but I got through it, and I hope that my family can pass this too. I’m so grateful for the opportunity that WUSC gave me,” she said.

published as posts following UTMers’ friends’ approval. “They’ve never told me that anything was too rude but they have told me that some stuff [was] not funny,” says UTMers. “I don’t think that it affects anything if they’re friends. If anything, it’s a more efficient way to keep me in check because they are just free to tell me the truth.”

While UTMers does not receive as much content as popular pages such as Spotted at UTM and uMentioned UTM, both original and submitted posts do not undergo censorship or editing.

However, the admin comments that, for original posts, “I have to take into consideration that people don’t know who I am and so they don’t know that it comes from a good place. So I would have to be careful not to be too sarcastic or too dry in my type of humour.”

For original posts, UTMers has two rules. The first rule is that people are not named. To provide an example, UTMers says, “All my political posts are about the UTMSU— mostly. I will refer to them as VP internal as opposed to the person’s name.”

The second rule is to always cite, which generally involves a link or a screenshot of the source. “[There is] nothing to be disputed. This is what I see. I do add [my] opinion and if I’m really angry, then I’ll probably insult […] the problem,” the admin says, adding that they may do so with “vulgar language”.

As for submissions, while they may be few, UTMers has received “two or three confessions […] that should remain anonymous”. However, the page has not received any “heavy” submissions requiring censorship.

What would happen if UTMers were to receive a confession that was blurring the line between freedom

of speech and hate speech?

“I do get offended at some stuff […] but I do not condone censoring people just because they offend me,” says the UTMers admin. “I have a very lax attitude towards ‘offensive’ speech. […] The onus is on the person making the so-called offensive speech to censor themselves. I feel like people should just scroll down if they don’t like something.”

UTMers believes that the matter of hate speech is more objective than people realise.

“It’s actually a black-and-white thing. If something is offensive or hate speech, it’s clear and defined.

But if it’s offensive, it’s not necessarily hate speech. I feel like if it’s objectively true, then I will post it.

And if it’s just racist or something phobic, then I will not post it,” the admin says.

One key feature of the UTMers page is that the admin constantly comments on student politics— most notably, UTMSU. “I don’t dislike them personally.

I don’t know them personally,” says the admin. “But I dislike their work and to be considered anti-UTMSU is a good thing.”

The UTMers admin believes that most people who work at the UTMSU do so for the good of the UTM student population and that they appreciate and recognize the effort that UTMSU puts in; however, “the final product of their effort is not useful and [does] not match the amount of student fees that we pay”.

The page’s future is not certain yet, but UTMers says, “I will not leave it to die, that’s for sure”. When the admin graduates, the page will either be handed to another UTM student (with all previous confessions being deleted) or turned into a “recent graduate type of page”.

Anon continued on page 14

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Q&A with the admins Anon continued from page 13

It’s official: I’m sick. (Yes, I’m that one

cently, I’ve developed a fondness for onion

person who’s currently having a coughing

soup—let me explain why.

fit during lectures and making you won-

As a die-hard Harry Potter fan, I’ve

der whether you need to sit closer to the

always been slightly jealous of Harry re-

front just to be able to hear the professor

ceiving a bowl of Molly Weasley’s “thick,

speak.)

steaming onion soup” during the Half-Blood

When you’re sick, you have a greater ap-

Prince (chapter five, in case anyone’s won-

preciation for all the things that you can’t

dering). Simply reading the description

eat. Currently, I have to avoid ice cream,

makes me salivate. Never mind the fact

sweets, cold desserts, and any dish that

that I don’t even like onions—I’d like to take

may irritate my throat. What’s worse is that

a sip of that soup too!

I can’t drink cold water—this is probably

Since we can’t just wave a wand and

the worst punishment of all. Drink luke-

make soup appear (that’s according to

warm water? I’d rather dehydrate.

Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration—

But there are certain advantages to be-

Hermione has only mentioned this about a

ing sick—as odd as that sounds. My mom,

million times in the series), here’s my take

like many other moms, pampers me and

on Molly Weasley’s onion soup.

prepares a hot, steaming bowl of soup. ReOnion Soup SERVES 2–3

INGREDIENTS • 1 tbsp olive oil • 1 clove garlic • 2 tbsp butter • 2 large sweet onions, chopped • 4 cups of chicken stock (or vegetable stock) • Pinch of garlic powder

3.Sauté the onion and garlic in butter.

Continue until soft or golden brown.

4.Add salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste.

5.Add the chicken stock. (Vegetable stock can be used as an alternative.)

6.Bring to a boil.

7.Lower the heat and allow the mixture

• Salt and pepper to taste

to simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes.

• Shredded parmesan cheese

(Heat may need to be reduced further to

• Fresh parsley, for garnish

prevent onions from sticking to the pan.)

• Bread/baguette, lightly toasted

8.Optional step: puree the mixture in a

METHOD

9.Sprinkle parmesan cheese along the

blender until it is smooth.

1.Pour the olive oil into a large pot or saucepan. Heat until warm.

2.Add the butter, garlic, and onion slices to the pan.

top. Garnish with parsley.

10.Serve immediately along with bread slices.

The following are extracts from The Medium’s interviews with UTMers and uMentioned UTM. All quotes have been edited for clarity and length.

Have you ever been reported by a user or been shut down by Facebook?

UTMers: No. Facebook tells me what post prompts somebody to unlike the page. It’s mostly UTMSU posts. I have been reported for spam once to Facebook because of a UTMSU post. But that’s the only backlash that I have seen. But sometimes people unlike my page for innocuous posts and that’s fine.

But I would say that 80 percent of the time, it’s a UTMSU post. uMentioned UTM: In the beginning, we were a Facebook person profile. People could add us as a friend. Then we maxed out at about 5,000 friends. But around the time we were being maxed out at 5,000 friends, Facebook tried to shut us down because in terms of Facebook’s algorithms, if you befriend or send too many friend requests within a specified period of time, Facebook automatically marks you as spam and tries to find out if you’re a real person or not. You’re technically not allowed to have a Facebook person profile if you’re not a real person. So then, eventually Facebook shut us down.

When we tried to talk to them—we tried really hard to negotiate with them—but they wouldn’t agree. So then we had to shut down for about a month. We had to start up with zero friends and as a page.

I face a lot of user complaints— but I try not to take them too personally. Some of them are from people that I personally know so it’s really hard to maintain a barrier and a mask. When I don’t read through posts on a timely basis, people critique me as if I’m not doing enough as an admin, but I’m just volunteering and it’s a free service.

So you mentioned that people have actually worked out your secret. Did your friends work it out too? uMentioned UTM: My closest friends—they knew from the beginning. But people who just knew who I was on campus found out through a lot of different reasons.

Some of them are kind of funny. A few people said that they noticed the tone of my language—I have no idea how they could do that!

Some people said that it was the way I was presenting myself on the page—like my tone of words, my choice of words—I have no idea how that happened. Another one that was funny was that I was taking a picture of an animal on campus, and that picture went online five minutes later. Somebody was in the building beside me, near the windows, who saw me taking the picture. They saw that angle of the picture being posted five minutes later—they were like, “Bingo! It’s you.”

Have you felt like your academic performance has been affected by

your involvement with your page?

UTMers: A lot of friends ask me if regularly posting things on UTMers has had a negative impact on my GPA or on my studies in general. The answer is that it has had no apparent effect. For example, my sessional GPA last semester was 3.20, but the semester before that was much lower; 2.50. uMentioned UTM: I do remember that especially in second year, when the page got almost too popular for me to handle, there were a lot of challenges. I think that it did indirectly affect my academic performance, and it was really challenging.

What do you believe are the positives to anonymous posting?

UTMers: Anonymous posting encourages people to be open and honest. It also puts forth the post itself [the information or the picture at hand] and does not reflect on the person behind the post. It’s a good way to emphasize the merit of the post, or the question, or the argument as to who’s behind it. So I think anonymity is a good thing. uMentioned UTM: I’m surprised that students have posted some very personal things on these pages and they don’t even know who’s behind it. I’m surprised at the number of students who made offline relationships—and again that’s a positive thing, but I was surprised in a good way. Some people have found their girlfriend or boyfriend through uMentioned. In a sense, I also helped as a matchmaker and a friend-finder. But that just makes me really happy.

“Anonymous posting encourages people to be open and honest. It also puts forth the post itself.”

– UTMers admin Has someone ever complimented you through a submission on your page? What did you do/say? uMentioned UTM: When you get a shout-out, your friends will always comment and tag you. I will comment and pretend like I don’t know what’s going on. Yeah, that has happened a few times. But the content of the post was nothing negative—it was all fun.

So what do you think this page offers to UTM students?

UTMers: Humour. I think it’s funny. I’ve asked a lot of people if it’s funny, because that’s the main thing. Even when I had bad days, I post funny things because we need humour in our lives. I feel like the page is about humour, information, condensed in one post, just like light information—intelligent information but nothing too heavy.

What’s the story behind the deer posts? uMentioned UTM: I guess a way to describe it is through the phrase “Stop and smell the flowers”. We have such a beautiful campus and I

really appreciate it. I want to share that with everyone and people responded really positively to the deer pictures so that was something I really tried to maintain. My computer is filled with all of these deer pictures from all four seasons of the year, all different places on campus, doing the most funny and ridiculous things. I always have my phone in my hand. I try to keep that as a branding to the page. I still get excited whenever I see deer. I’ve caught them kissing, jumping on trees, eating apples, real close-ups of them. That’s something I really treasured about the page.

So occasionally pages like these become hubs for cyberbullying, hate speech, anonymous attacks, and so on. What are your thoughts on this?

UTMers: I have criticized people in particular without naming them, but for some posts, it’s obvious who I’m talking about. I wouldn’t say that I regret those posts because I try to target the problem and the respective people’s lack of good work, and so it is insinuated I am talking about a specific person.

I try not to do that but sometimes I have to. So, I wouldn’t consider it to be cyberbullying because I’m not a bully just like in general.

That could be interpreted as that though and I understand that. But I feel like it’s the responsibility of the people running for these positions to assume that they’re open for criticism.

Do you want to share a hint about your real identity? uMentioned UTM: I think for people who really wanted to know, there’s enough information for them to have a pretty good guess.

For students who are still wondering, I feel like everyone has seen me! Well, I’m in fourth year. I’m graduating; I have to leave the page behind. I’m a girl. I think everyone knows I’m in commerce; there have been some posts that are commerce-oriented.

So do the good experiences outweigh the bad?

UTMers: Yes, I feel like there is no bad. There are issues but they are very minor. I think that if every student had their own page that would be great. Because everyone has a way of experiencing UTM and if they create a page on how they experience it, then it does so much for the school spirit. You see the commonality between us. uMentioned UTM: Definitely. I really try to treasure the good experiences as well—and in terms of the bad experiences, I go by the moral of not taking it personally and keep reminding myself that to some students, this is an anonymous page that’s supposed to do me a service of posting my post. That’s what students see; they don’t see it as a student who needs to study and do their own stuff. I really need to remind myself that and learn not to take things too personally. It’s challenging, but it’s really taught me a lot over the past few years.

These interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

02.01.2016

»

15

Blues not fazed by Windsor’s lance Men’s and women’s hockey come out of the weekend with wins against the Windsor Lancers ERIC HEWITSON SPORTS EDITOR MEN’S HOCKEY The Varsity Blues men’s hockey team ousted the Windsor Lancers 3-1 on Friday night in Windsor, giving the Blues a 10-12-2 record, good for eighth place in the OUA West Division and only four points away from third place.

Fourth-year forward Patrick Marsh scored twice in the contest; his first came in the power play in the first period. Toronto tallied again in the first period when rookie forward Max Lindsay netted his sixth goal of the year in the last minute, giving the Blues a 2-0 lead heading into the second period.

Marsh scored again in the second period, ultimately finishing off the Lancers with his 13th goal of the year. The Blues took a 3-1 lead in the third period.

The third went back and forth and was mostly dominated by the goaltenders. Third-year goaltender Andrew Hunt posted a spec-

MARTIN BAZYL/PHOTO

Sonja Weidenfelder puts the puck past Windsor goaltender to win the game for the Blues. tacular performance, making 54 saves, while his opponents Blake Richard and Michael Doan, who both split Windsor goaltending duties, combined for 26 saves.

Toronto didn’t post any shots on net in the third period.

The Varsity Blues host the

Western Mustangs this Friday at Varsity Arena. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY The Varsity Blues women’s hockey team escaped a two-goal first-period deficit and beat the Windsor

Lancers 3-2 in overtime at Varsity Arena Saturday night. Fifthyear forward Sonja Weidenfelder scored in overtime, improving her team’s winning record to 8-34-3, giving them the fifth spot in the OUA standings.

Captain Kristi Riseley scored

for the Blues a quarter way into the second period to dim Windsor’s lead to 2-1. Riseley tipped in a point shot on the power play, which was initially shot by defenceman Rebecca Bourgeois.

Halfway through the second period, second-year forward Megan O’Brien put the puck in the back of the net for the fourth time in four games after a mad scramble had the puck trickle in front of the net and onto her stick allowing her to put it past the sprawling Windsor goalie, Hanna Slater, and into the open net.

Linemates jumped on O’Brien with joy and excitement, putting the momentum back on Toronto’s side heading into the third period.

Weidenfelder made her bench erupt when she stuffed the onetiming pass from Taylor Day into the back of the net, giving her the game-winning goal.

The Varsity Blues host the Ryerson Rams this Thursday. Puck drop is set for 11 a.m.

In pursuit of the aesthetic ideal Are media sites obscuring our vision and creating anxiety with “ideal” body images?

AMANDA BORTHWICK STAFF WRITER There are three things I don’t trust in this world: the 110 bus schedule, oatmeal cookies that look like chocolate chip cookies, and Nicki Minaj’s butt.

As I finished my final set of squats last week at the gym, I couldn’t help but imagine her derrière and why it has suddenly become a fixation with so many women, leading them to question the size and shape of their own.

Don’t we know that body “ideals”, propagated through media icons like Minaj and the Kardashians, are virtually impossible to achieve through biological accident? Why is it that the pressures to meet these unrealistic body and beauty standards are nonetheless pervasive?

The problem is that we rely so heavily on mainstream media’s depiction of what it means to have a “desirable” body. Even if these goals are realistically unachievable, we pick up on these dominant social norms of attractiveness, whether we realize it or not.

Now I’m not suggesting that every time you hit the gym, your goal

MAHMOUD SAROUJI/THE MEDIUM

It isn’t easy to obtain that perfect core you see in photos online. is to pull a Kim Kardashian and break the Internet. Unless it is—in which case, don’t quit your day job.

But it’s reasonable to say that while we aim to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle, we low-key also want the booty, abs, and biceps to show for it.

Clearly, there’s meaning ascribed to having these bodily char-

acteristics, whether they’re artificial or not. It’s significant because it comes down to one’s specific desires. Even though these beauty norms are socially constructed, the consequences of not conforming are real experiences we face, whether it is stigmatization or feelings of inferiority and insecurity.

Third-year criminology student

Kanu Supeyia agrees that there is pressure for an underlying aesthetic goal she should meet, and blames it on the images she sees on social media.

“Going through Instagram and Facebook and watching these women with perfect bodies get so many likes and shares diminishes my self-esteem so much, even af-

ter I thought I had a great workout,” she says. “So although I want to stay healthy, in the back of my mind what keeps me coming back consistently is this idea of a slimmer body or a bigger butt.”

This, of course, shouldn’t come as a surprise, since we’re persistently exposed to conventionally attractive people on television, in music videos, magazines, advertising, and mass media in general that perpetuate dominant social norms about attractiveness. Exposure and interaction with this messaging lead us to make comparisons and scrutinize our own bodies.

Associate professor of sociology Shyon Baumann adds, “Studies show that exposure to mass media content is related to negative feelings about body image, self-esteem, and the holding of stereotypical beliefs about attractiveness.”

If you know what a “belfie” is, the words to “Bootylicious”, or watch “how to twerk” tutorials on YouTube then you know better than anyone the power mass media has in influencing how we think about our appearance and that of others.

Ideals continued on page 16

16

«SPORTS

THE MEDIUM 02.01.2016

Students set to squash the competition Squash Club is growing, giving opportunities to students to begin and improve their skills ERIC HEWITSON SPORTS EDITOR I stand in a cubed battlefield awaiting Austin Oude-Reimerink’s serve, thanking God I wasn’t in the coliseum and that Oude-Reimerink and I didn’t have to fight to the death, or been cast in a Game of Thrones–style squash match—I would have been the one decapitated.

Third-year UTM commerce student Oude-Reimerink and I played a game of squash during the Squash Challenge hosted by the UTM Squash Club on Friday afternoon. The goal of the event was to introduce new and fun challenges to beginners and allow active members a chance to better their skill set and meet new members.

The challenges and games against students who have a passion for the unique sport test your speed, control, and dexterity. Oude-Reimerink beat me and won Player of the Afternoon, walking away with a first-prize gift card. Other students who participated walked away having enjoyed their time.

Oude-Reimerink enjoys playing all sorts of sports in the UTM athletic facilities, whether it’s lifting weights in the high-performance centre or playing basketball with friends; squash is

FACEBOOK.COM/UTMSQUASHCLUB/PHOTO

The squash club has a few more events happening this February before their tournament in March. something that he’s good at because of his upbringing.

“I’ve been around the sport all my life, basically going to play every once in a while with my dad. My dad played varsity squash at York and still plays often at his club. I started taking it seriously in grade 12 with a couple of friends and one day we made our own squash team, winning first, second, and sixth place out of 15 players

Conforming to “perfection” Ideals continued from page 15 But women are not the only ones who suffer. This “one-size-fits-all” scheme of attractiveness cast in the media also extends to men.

“Since the 1970s, there has been a change in attractiveness ideals regarding masculinity ideals. Media portrays muscular men as ideal, and the research suggests that these ideals might have originated in the sports world,” says Baumann.

Enter Magic Mike and his entourage of chiseled biceps and contoured and aesthetically pleasing dancers, and we forget what most men realistically look like.

Third-year biology major Harry Sandhu is well aware of this pressure. “To be honest, I work on my upper body more than my lower body, because it’s the first thing that people notice. Media puts so much emphasis on guys having hard abs, biceps and having a big chest,” he says.

This “perfection” blueprint men are expected to emulate further exceeded comfortable levels when women began giving more attention to men who can meet these standards on platforms that can reach millions of individuals in a matter or seconds.

Instead, watch the number of icons these days saying hasta la vista to conventional beauty standards, widening the definition of beauty. This push for more realistic body positive images and discours-

es in the media has been gaining momentum.

The standards of beauty may be changing, and many feel empowered with trending statements like “strong is the new sexy”, “strong is the new skinny”, and “real women have curves”.

But wait, I don’t have curves— and all this time I thought I was a woman.

Obviously, we still need to be cautious not to shift the problem from one group to another and insinuate that one body type is better or worse. Because sorry to sound cliché, but men and women come in all shapes and sizes. Efforts to push one body group forward as the be-all and end-all physique is counterintuitive.

Tariq Ado-Ibrahim, a personal trainer at the UTM fitness centre, advises that we need to keep social media in check. “Realize that the media is out there to sell, sometimes through subliminal messages. Just stay true to yourself by leaving the media in the virtual world and live in reality. It shouldn’t be misconstrued, and we shouldn’t try to blend both of them together,” he says.

Amen to that. And while we wait for mass media to get its act together, we need to aspire to be the best version of ourselves, be our own role models, and stop chasing those ideals, because that’s all they are—ideals.

in an Ontario amateur tournament,” says Oude-Reimerink. The muscular athlete doesn’t have time to make an emotional commitment to the game right now, maybe playing “once or twice a month”.

Squash, first played in 1830 in Harrow, England and now admired by more than 30 million registered players across the world, is part of the racket sports family. Two (singles) or

four (doubles) players square off in a four-walled court. The players alternate in striking the hollow rubber ball into the divided surfaces of the court.

Squash is for athletes who are looking to improve or who have exceptional agility, cardio, hand-eye coordination, and durability. Even though the game seems simple at first glance, you must accommodate yourself with the plethora of strategies it takes to be-

ERIC HEWITSON SPORTS EDITOR

Kijiji for $100—to this day I feel like I stole it from him; it was such a good deal.

The TRX is arguably the most versatile piece of workout equipment on the planet. Simply designed, it’s ready to turn your beer belly into a six-pack. Constructed of nylon webbing so the resistance is generated by variable bodyweight and gravity, the TRX is just lying there in the workout facilities calling your name, ready to turn you into an all around better-looking and performing specimen.

A Navy SEAL designed the TRX, allowing the men and women who defend their country to stay in top physical condition. The full-body workout allows anyone, from average men and women in their bedrooms to top-notch athletes, to get themselves ready for strenuous tasks or get the blood flowing and burn off some calories. If you’re tired of walking around to all of the different machines reading the instructions on what to do, or you’re frustrated that your crunches haven’t worked your oblique muscles as well as your abdominals, then try some unique TRX movements that will blast your body into a summer dream, you’ll incorportate more muscles than you would with a machine. Make time and put effort into joining the Group TRX class in the fitness studio on Wednesdays from 11:10 a.m. to noon; you’ll be sore for the next few days. Typically, the TRX costs upward of $400, but I bought mine a couple of years ago from a guy on

TRX SINGLE-LEG SQUAT A lot of people don’t have the strength or balance to do a single-leg squat without help. The TRX trains your body to activate the muscles used in the movement with help.

You’ll build stronger hamstrings, glutes, and core because you flex your core and keep it in a solid upright position without swaying or tilting from side to side. Grab the handlebars with both hands, tighten

A lot of people don’t have the strength or balance to do a single-leg squat without help. The TRX will help with that. your core, and bend down with your hips. Have your hips sink to the group until it’s about a foot above.

Your heel should be planted firmly on the ground. Your opposite leg should be extended in front of you, stretching and strengthening hip and hamstring muscles. When you have one leg off the ground, you’re exposing weaknesses with your balance and posture; you’ll learn how to correct those issues with this movement. Once you’ve made it to this seated position, use your hips to power your way back up to standing position. Remember, your core is ac-

come good at the sport if you want to drop jaws like the Olympic squash athletes.

Ongelle-Lise Burnett, fourth-year UTM student and founder of the UTM Squash Club, came to Canada from Georgetown, Guyana wanting to bring a piece of her background and passion to UTM. Nearly two years ago, she brought together the everpresent community of people who enjoy playing squash, giving them the ability to play right on campus.

The UTM Squash Club, which hosts fundraising events in the UTM Student Centre, has three tournaments happening this February where participants will challenge the UTSG Squash Club. In March, students who participate in those events will have the opportunity to play in the National University-College tournament happening at the University of Toronto. Any newcomers in February will have the chance to play in that tournament.

Squash is an incredibly fun experience, and it is free to learn and try out here at UTM. Friends are always battling friends, getting a great workout in and enhancing their mental functioning since it’s a game of physical strength, endurance, and mental fortitude.

tivated all the way through.

TRX Y FLY Grab the handlebars with both hands and extend your arms above your head so that your body forms the shape of the letter “Y”. Lower your body while keeping your arms extended and maintain an active core—breaking at the hips or bending your elbows will decrease the resistance and you’ll lose the effectiveness of the movement. Then bring your arms back to the “Y” position, keeping your core tight. You’ll feel your muscles in your core, back, and shoulders screaming.

TRX ATOMIC PIKE Start in plank position with palms face down against the floor and both feet in their respective foot cradles.

Your body should be parallel to the ground, maintaining an active core and straight back. Once in this position, you hinge at the hips and drive your butt up while keeping your torso straight. Whatever you do, don’t bend at the knees anytime during this exercise. You’ll get a pump in the arms and an extreme core workout from this plank and hinge motion. This movement is more advanced than a regular plank because you’re activating more muscles while moving, giving this exercise a purpose for everyday life scenarios where you bend at the hips. When you’ve hinged your hips, try to walk your feet back away from the anchor point until you’re in full plank position again.