TEDxRyersonU 2014 Magazine by TEDxRyersonU

TWITTER TWITTER.COM/TEDxRyersonU

INSTAGRAM INSTAGRAM.COM/TEDxRyersonU

WEBSITE TEDxRyersonU.ca

RyersonU

A LETTER FROM THE CURATOR

THE STEERING TEAM

THE SPEAKERS

03 05 07

09 11 THE WHOLE TEAM

THE MAGAZINE TEAM

EGO ECHOES MITCH MACEACHERN

The echo we leave behind is inextricably linked to who we are. If we are positive, so is our echo; if we are negative, so is our influence.

15 17 THE PAST IS IN THE FUTURE BRENNAN DOHERTY

An echo never returns exactly as it was created. Time has effected change which makes one wonder, is the future is predictable at all?

16 THE ECHOES WE CREATE SISSI WANG

A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

The common understanding of an echo is that it is outside the speaker. It is as if it stands on its own, and is ultimately out of the speakers control. However, never forget that you created the echo that you hear, and whether it is a positive or negative one is entirely up to you.

ALL HAIL BANANA KID BRIAN MILLADO

The joyful laughter of an exuberant child is quite possibly the most heartwarming echo there can ever be. It lasts but a few moments, but reverberates throughout a lifetime.

SHELDON LEVY IN THE SPOTLIGHT CORMAC MCGEE

All one can ever do is limited only by what one can get done. Sheldon Levy has left a loud and long-lasting echo within the framework of Ryerson University.

20 THE MESSAGE BEHIND ANXIETY SYDNEY NEILSON

Sometimes echoes can be heard but misinterpreted. It is up to the listener to make sense of what is being spoken. Is fear going to dominate your life, or are you going to hear the echo of anticipation instead?

21 23

ECHOES DEFINED YARA KASHLAN

Echoes happen all of the time. If you aren’t paying attention, you may miss them entirely. The good news is, echoes keep repeating themselves, so if you missed them, you’ll always have another chance to hear them again.

EXPAND YOUR ECHO HUNTER MACINNES

Echoes can be created anywhere, and the least likely of places often produce the most touching resonations. Instead of seeking the ordinary, risk echoing the extraordinary!

24 REMNANTS OF CHOICE ANDREA VACL

Not all echoes are good. And some never leave. Plastic’s infiltration into, not only our daily lives, but our daily meals, is definitely an echo worth listening to.

SLC: A LEGACY TYLER WEBB

The Student Learning Centre opens next semester, are you ready to make your mark?

URBAN AGRICULTURE NICOLE NORRIS

Echoes travel into the earth as well as through the sky. Perhaps the most important echoes are the ones that grow the future that humanity needs.

25 07

The ancient Greeks had an idea of what an echo was. Does their concept still resonate in today’s modern world?

28 30

WHAT DO WE WANT TO LEAVE? ISHRAT FATIMA

THE ART SECTION

OUR AMAZING SPONSORS

A LETTER FROM THE CURATOR CURATOR RAMSHA NAEEM As the curator, the responsibility of meticulously steering the TEDxRyersonU ship falls to her. The role involves establishing the vision for the year and working with a team of about 50 volunteers to bring this vision to reality. Born and raised in Saudi Arabia, Ramsha came to Toronto with the goal of completing her undergraduate degree. Currently in her 5th year, Ramsha is a Marketing Major with a Double Minor in Retail Management and Professional Communication. Upon graduation, she aspires to combine her love of marketing, fashion and lifestyle, by immersing herself in the retail industry. As a business student, it is no surprise that Simon Sinek’s talk is among one of her favourites. Tying in the “Golden Circle” concept, he sheds a new light on leadership in, How Great Leaders Inspire Action: People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. This talk offers a simplified way of learning how to focus on a vision of the whole, instead of focusing on the individualized product - the ‘what’.

reetings and a warm welcome to TEDxRyersonU 2014! The inspiration behind this issue is a singularity of vision, a sense of purpose, and a dollop of creativity. The magazine initiative was created to unleash the creativity of our team to the world because we, at TEDxRyersonU, believe that everyone has an idea worth sharing. Conceived in 2010, TEDxRyersonU has hosted four extremely successful events. Each year, we have grown bigger, wiser, and craftier – pushing the boundaries on campus by bringing together all the creative minds while securing a prestigious place for our Pantone 485 “TED” here at Ryerson. And here we are, four years later, all ready to present to you, once again, Ryerson’s ideas worth spreading. This fall marks yet another milestone as we embark upon the fifth annual TEDxRyersonU conference. With hopes of making 2014 the best year ever, we have devoted ourselves to the TED dogma by implementing many innovative ideas throughout the year. Ideas – that has always been our primary focus. Human knowledge is growing at an unprecedented, exponential rate. The sad truth is that many of these discoveries remain invisible to students. Ryerson is doing a fantastic job at making that knowledge accessible and actionable by the community. This is a university that is constantly innovating and researching with an emphasis on the development of knowledge. As a part of this organization, we see it upon ourselves to connect these ideas to the people that will bring them to life. When I first joined TEDxRyersonU in 2012, I could have never imagined I would be wearing the shoes of the curator two years later. I couldn’t even have imagined it a year ago. During the concluding moments of the 2013 conference, I knew I didn’t just want to, but I had to do this again – one final time. Since then, this role has scared me, excited me, baffled me, and constantly amazed me. Taking a concept with a team of 50 highly creative individuals and concentrating it down to one cohesive vision seemed like an intimidating thought – but like a symphony, I witnessed 50 passionate individuals, all hovering around in different faculties at Ryerson, unite together under a single movement: TED. That is the best thing about TEDxRyersonU; it has always been the result of true team effort. And I can easily say that this year’s team is stronger than ever before. Through the tireless efforts of everyone involved, you, as an audience, will get to engage with the most innovative and stimulating ideas from the leading minds of Ryerson’s thinkers. So please, grab your seats and get comfortable. Join us in conversation online and participate in the spirit of this event. At TEDxRyersonU, we do not put impositions on thought; we embrace our collective knowledge and shares ideas that inspire you to create your own. Enjoy the show!

A LETTER FROM THE EDITOR EDITOR-IN-CHIEF HOLLY BLAIR A deep thinker and compelled creative, Holly has always had an intense love for publications. As a third year Fashion Communications student she was thrilled to be able to take on the role of Editor-in-chief and bring her expertise in combining innovative ideas with stunning imagery and design into an impressive magazine for TEDxRyersonU. She plans to expand on these skills further while finishing her degree, afterwards continuing on to employment within the publication and design industry, along with pursuing photography and writing on the side. Other things that Holly enjoys includes a wide variety of wine, books, long walks with her dog, any curry ever, hugs, trap music, beaches and grey crewneck sweatshirts.

esterday I saw a beautiful young girl wiping tears away as she walked down the street. My heart stopped in my throat, swollen with empathy. I’ve been that girl before. Carrying heaviness in my heart. So heavy that as quickly as I’m trying to walk slowly, I can’t keep it in. I can’t ever know what was hurting her. But I at least hope she made it home to the comfort of a warm duvet or maybe even a cold bathroom floor. We pass thousands of people in a large city such as Toronto, and we mostly regard each other as objects to maneuver around. But a person is a person; an individual who has a tragic story that always seem so unexpected, never seeming to match their outward appearance. We’re all just trying to get through it, this daily thing called life, which can be extraordinary and awful and usually somewhere in between. But it’s not as easy as being thoughtful of others for a day. The idea of our impact on the world around us through echoes is presented beautifully throughout our articles in this TEDxRyersonU magazine. As you read them I hope you will listen to them as well. Listen to them with the idea in mind that you must care for yourself first. The rest just happens. As someone who identifies with being a highly sensitive individual with an almost disproportionate amount of empathy, I immediately related to the TEDxRyersonU theme of “echoes”. To me, it describes my experiences in being able to not only relate to other people’s emotions, but physically feel them as well. Sometimes so much so that it can be overwhelming. I realized that while it is a positive characteristic in some instances, it also means I have to knowingly be aware of myself. I’ve always been naturally resistant to the idea of self-focus, but I began to do so as a sort of life experiment and beautiful things started happening. I felt more at peace, more whole and more content. And the other outcome of this was that the compassion and understanding that I so very much wanted to contribute to the world suddenly flowed freely from me. So, dear readers, I would like to twist the idea of simply being kind to others, and suggest that you turn that kindness inward, onto yourself. And that starts with knowing yourself. Like a delicious new lover you’ve just met, get naked and ask a million questions. Be infatuated with yourself. Even the parts you don’t like. Get to know them. Work on which parts may be harmful to you, but don’t shun or berate them. They are parts of you that were shaped from negative experiences no doubt, but that you can gain strength from, and help others with, once you understand them. An echo has to start from somewhere and that origin is you. All the things you want to do but talk yourself out of ? Do them and don’t ask for anyone’s damn permission. This is not selfish, it is necessary. Put your mask on before you assist others. As a favourite writer of mine, Cheryl Strayed has so gracefully said, “I know it’s a kick in the pants to hear that the problem is you, but it’s also fantastic. You are, after all, the only person you can change.” When you do this, kindness and compassion will radiate off of you and echo out into the world effortlessly, because of the effort you put into yourself. And to the teary-eyed girl braving the sidewalks of downtown, I hope you know that, whatever was causing you pain that day, I felt. And I can only hope that you take good care of yourself. Those tears are sending you a message. We have one responsibility and that is to ourselves, because everything after that is simply extra.

THE STEERING TEAM

MARKETING STEERING LEAD ALEXANDER WONG

CORPORATE & FINANCE STEERING LEAD ALEKSA STEFANOVIC

From social media to community outreach, Alexander, the Marketing Steering Lead, has had the pleasure of managing all branding aspects of TEDxRyersonU. He and the committee cultivate ideas and campaigns to bring awareness to things such as the TEDx structure reveal, student speaker auditions event, and of course, the conference. Currently he is in his 3rd year as a double Major in Human Resources Management and Marketing. A hobby that he is very passionate about, and has consistently pursued throughout several years of his life, is photography. Whether with a DSLR, point-and-shoot or cell phone, Alexander loves to capture moments. His favourite TED talk, which is one of the first TED talks he encountered, and is also what inspired him to get involved with TEDxRyersonU, is called, Leading with Lollipops, by Drew Dudley. Dudley talks about the impact people can have on one another without even realizing it. He encourages individuals to discover the lollipop moment of their lives. That moment where someone has done something, whether small or large, that changed them for the better. Most importantly, his talk encourages us to give gratitude to those people in our lollipop moment. Alexander hopes to live a life full of lollipop moments!

Aleksa Stefanovic is a 4th year Finance Major at the Ted Rogers School of Management. As a self-proclaimed world traveler, Aleksa aspires to work internationally. He’ll use his finance skills and passion for people-work as his compass. As the Finance Steering Lead, he is responsible for securing TEDxRyersonU’s finances. His role is diverse. He approaches school faculties and professionals, pitching the organization and conference to potential sponsors. After securing funds, he makes sure they are allocated properly. It is essential that he provides his team with the resources they need in order to create the best possible events and experiences for the TEDxRyersonU’s audience. His favourite TED Talk has always been Sir Ken Robinson’s, How to Escape Education’s Death Valley. It is a beautiful talk about how the standards of education atomize and limit learning, ultimately stifling individual creativity. This talk has shaped much of how Aleksa views education, influencing how he works around the limitations presented in order to gain the most that he can out of his time at school.

PRODUCTIONS STEERING LEAD ERIKA PEDERSEN-LORENZEN

SPEAKERS STEERING LEAD OMAR ZIA

As the Productions Steering Lead, Erika is responsible for the logistics and operations involved in planning the conference and other TEDxRyersonU events. This includes booking venues, selecting catering and technology, and organizing and scheduling events. She also leads the Productions team, which includes the Event Managers, Set Designers, and Audio Technicians as well as the Tech Lead. Erika is in her 4th year as a Human Resources Major with a Sociology Minor. She is also a dancer who has been training in classical ballet for as long as she can remember. On top of being a student of dance. She also teaches ballet and creative movement to young aspiring dancers. It may be of no surprise that her favorite TED talk is, Dance vs PowerPoint, A Modest Proposal, by John Bohannon. He starts this talk by explaining a complex scientific process using dancers as his visual aid instead of the traditional method of PowerPoint. His modest proposal is to replace PowerPoint with the many unemployed dancers, thereby saving money and pulling countries out of debt. It may seem ridiculous at first, but that’s what makes this Erika’s favorite talk. The audience laughs when they first hear his proposal and the reason behind it, yet when the information and argument is really digested, it actually makes sense, and may even work.

Speakers, that’s Omar’s responsibility! As the Speakers Steering Lead, he led a team of 5 students who scoured the community of Ryerson in search of those finally chosen to talk at the conference. His goal this year was to extend the TEDxRyersonU’s search beyond just inspirational speakers, and more towards action-oriented individuals, whose ideas will really come to life on stage. During the day, Omar is not your dime a dozen student. Casually strolling through the doors of the Ted Rogers School of Management building while others are headed to lunch, he spends the rest of his afternoons working on his Business Law major and Marketing Minor. Life moves slower for Omar, allowing him not just to work hard, but to cherish the smaller things in every situation he’s in. Maybe he’s Flash? Ken Robinson - a favourite speaker of Omar’s - said it best in his talk titled, How Schools Kill Creativity: “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.” Omar feels individuals need to let their minds wander in order to create and innovate. Robinson’s talk delivers a simple message: that when one is in the midst of a problem, the only way it can be solved is by thinking of original solutions to the fundamental issues.

THE MAGAZINE TEAM

ART DIRECTOR SAM HEICHERT

PRINT COORDINATOR ANNA AVITSIAN

Sam is an Adobe Creative Suite enthusiast, currently in her final year of Fashion Communications. Since she was young, she’s been drawn to design over other creative forms. Over the years, she has refined her interests to art direction, typography, and digital design. These interests are matched well with her position as Art Director for the TEDxRyersonU magazine. She is currently a design intern at FLARE magazine, with past experience at reknown fashion website The Coveteur. After completing her degree, Sam aspires to move to somewhere new to pursue design for alternative fashion and lifestyle publications, or work for a creative branding firm. Some other things Sam enjoys are scandinavia, fancy beer, and a decent plate of calamari. Want to see more of her work? check out behance.net/sam-heichert

Anna is a fourth year Graphic Communications Management student who calls Cleveland, OH her home. Her past experience in the world of magazines includes serving last year as a graphic designer for the newly-formed Ryerson Art & Design Magazine (RADmag, for short). This year, she’s proud to serve as RADmag’s Art Director--a role that parallels well with her position on TEDx’s magazine team. Anna is also greatly involved with her program’s course union, a student group she’s been a part of since her first year. She currently holds the position of VP Finance. Outside of school, Anna spends most of her time making art, discovering new music, and playing the drums and guitar. Once she graduates in the spring, she hopes to pursue a career in music production and management.

DEPUTY EDITOR MITCH MACEACHERN

COPY EDITOR YARA KASHLAN

Mitch is a third-year English major who very much likes reading and writing. He wrote for the TEDxRyersonU magazine last year, which was a great experience. This year, however, he is assisting in editing the writers’ articles that have been submitted for the awesome theme of Echoes. It has been an interesting time for him being on the editor’s side of writing; something he hasn’t had very much experience doing. But, he has learned very much from the editor, and writers, and everyone on the TEDx team this year, so he feels very confident that, with each of the team members doing their best, the magazine will be a success. Mitch likes purple, cinnamon buns and walking. If he could be anywhere in the world right now, he would not be where he wouldn’t want to be. Which is there.

At just 19 years old, Yara Kashlan started her own company: A RAY Creative Publishing. Drawing from personal experiences and lessons learned as a writer and journalism student, Yara has embarked on a new journey as an entrepreneur. She writes and publishes children’s illustrated books that promote and spread multiculturalism and diversity. This year, Yara challenged herself by taking on the role as a copy editor at TEDxRyersonU. Last year she was a community outreach manager at TEDxRU and found the experience to be very rewarding. Her years spent with TEDxRU taught her the importance of having passion and dedication towards her work. Although the future is still uncertain, Yara likes to keep an open mind and jump on board any opportunity that comes her way. And whatever she comes up with next, we are sure it will be an idea worth spreading.

THE SPEAKERS THIS YEAR TEDxRyersonU BRINGS FORTH 7 DYNAMIC SPEAKERS FROM ALL DIFFERENT FACETS OF RYERSON UNIVERSITY. FROM TECHNOLOGY TO ENTERTAINMENT TO DESIGN, OUR GOAL THIS YEAR IS NOT ONLY TO INSPIRE BUT TO CULTIVATE THAT INSPIRATION INTO ACTION.

KEVIN SHAW PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER OF ZAGGA ENTERTAINMENT Despite losing his vision at 19, Kevin Shaw has forged a successful career in media production, radio advertising and broadcast management. Over the past 15 years, he has become a leader in live entertainment, music production, and communications, earning a reputation for being a thorough, skilled, action-oriented entrepreneur and communicator. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Ryerson University in Radio & Television Arts and Media Production respectively. In 2012, Kevin Shaw founded Zagga Entertainment, a startup company incubated at the Digital media Zone at Ryerson University. He is working to create a video-on-demand service featuring movies and TV shows with described video for consumers with vision loss. His talk will tell the story of how he developed this service and discuss how tomorrow’s leaders can create inclusive experiences in media and other disciplines.

CAMMI PHAM DIGITAL STRATEGIST AT KWINMEDIA Cammi Pham is a digital strategist at Kwinmedia by day, blogger by night, but a learner 24/7. To date, she has gained a following of over 77,000 followers on Twitter and trended #1 in the U.S. on Justin Bieber’s birthday. Cammi is no stranger to the digital marketing world with her years of experience and also previously working with the Digital Media Zone at Ryerson University. Her blog content has been viewed by millions of people and translated to many different languages. In fact, on Medium, one of the largest blogging communities, one of her articles is the 2nd most read on the entire website, gaining over 1.2 million views. She was also recently named a Top Writer at Quora. At Kwinmedia, her focus lies on data driven content marketing and has helped her clients reach millions of people. Cammi lives by her personal motto, “Learn, Unlearn, Relearn.” and hopes to share some of those thoughts during her TED talk. She believes when someone stops learning, they start dying.

PAMELA PALMATER ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR RYERSON UNIVERSITY Dr. Pamela Palmater is an Associate Professor and Chair in Indigenous Governance in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at Ryerson University. She completed her Doctorate in the Science of Law (JSD) at Dalhousie University Law Faculty in 2009. Her thesis is entitled: Beyond Blood: Rethinking Aboriginal Identity and Belonging. In addition, she holds a Master in Laws from Dalhousie University in Aboriginal Law, a Bachelor of Laws at the University of New Brunswick, and a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Native Studies and History from St. Thomas University in New Brunswick. Over 25 years, Pamela has spent time working and volunteering to resolve issues issues facing the Indigenous people and their community. At TEDxRyersonU, she aims to do much of the same by unrooting the echoes of the past by shedding new light on matters concerning her research.

FRAUKE ZELLER ASSISTANT PROFESSOR RYERSON UNIVERSITY Dr. Frauke Zeller received a PhD in English linguistics and computational philology from Kassel University in Germany in 2005. Since then she has furthered her research on organizational communication, Human-Computer Interaction/Human-Robot Interaction, digital communication, and method development for digital research analysis. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor in the School of Professional Communication at Ryerson University where she along with David Smith of McMaster University conceived hitchBOT. A robot developed to hitchhike across Canada and develop not only robotics but the relationship between humans and robot. Dr. Zeller combines the experiences behind the creation of hitchBOT to build her theory on trust, attitude and relationships we have to technology and robots.

RÉMY HUBERDEAU DOCUMENTARY DIRECTOR, EDITOR & SUBTITLER In addition to being a visiting speaker at Ryerson University, Rémy Huberdeau has worked as a freelance documentary director, editor and subtitler (with Trans & Sub Coop) based in Montreal, Quebec for the past 7 years. His directorial work explores gender and transexuality, as well as linguistic and decolonial dynamics on Turtle Island. His most recent film Transgender Parents will be broadcasted on The Documentary Network in December 2014. Rémy is part of the programming team of Cinema Politica, a network that makes political documentaries accessible around the world. He will be stepping out from behind the lens of his camera to give a talk about his documentary Transgender Families and will be challenging social gender norms to enlighten the audience on the many different shapes a family can be.

GIZELLE LAO SOCIOLOGY STUDENT RYERSON UNIVERSITY From a physically small person comes a big voice. Gizelle Lao is a third year Sociology major at Ryerson University, who has been exposed to many theories on human nature and also the winner of our Student Speaker Auditions. With strength in her words and knowledge, she wants to pursue a career in human resources management and activism. She has an interest in surfing, public speaking, and music. Aspiring to teach others to stay calm when waves come, and be strong enough to swim back up when they bring you down. Her journey all started from living in another country before she moved to Canada. This transition has helped her realize the importance of certain aspects of her life. From where she came, to where she is, and to where she wants to be, she realizes the importance of sacrifices.

VICKI SAUNDERS DIGITAL MEDIA ZONE ADVISOR Vicki is a serial entrepreneur, author, passionate mentor, advisor-at-large to the next generation of change makers and a leading advocate for entrepreneurship as a way of creating positive transformation in the world. Vicki has co-founded and run 4 ventures in Europe, Toronto and Silicon Valley including The NRG Group which went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2000. Vicki was selected as a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum and currently building SheEO, a 2 decade-long initiative to dramatically transform how we support, finance and celebrate female entrepreneurs who are creating new mindsets, new models and new solutions for a better world. Her talk aims to shine light on entrepreneurship from an angle focused on redesigning and redefining.

THE WHOLE TEAM CURATOR PRODUCTIONS STEERING LEAD CORPORATE RELATIONS & FINANCE STEERING LEAD MARKETING STEERING LEAD SPEAKERS STEERING LEAD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ART DIRECTOR PRINT COORDINATOR DEPUTY EDITOR COPY EDITOR ACCOUNT MANAGER ACCOUNT MANAGER SPEAKERS LIAISON SPEAKERS LIAISON SPEAKERS LIAISON SPEAKERS LIAISON SPEAKERS COACH TECH LEAD EVENT MANAGER EVENT MANAGER EVENT MANAGER EVENT MANAGER EVENT MANAGER SET DESIGN MANAGER SET DESIGN MANAGER SET DESIGN MANAGER AUDIO TECHNICIAN AUDIO TECHNICIAN COMMUNICATIONS & RELATIONS MANAGER SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER COMMUNITY OUTREACH LEAD COMMUNITY OUTREACH MANAGER COMMUNITY OUTREACH MANAGER GRAPHIC DESIGNER DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER MOBILE WEB DEVELOPER PHOTOGRAPHER LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER PHOTOGRAPHER PHOTOGRAPHER PHOTOGRAPHER VIDEOGRAPHER VIDEOGRAPHER

RAMSHA NAEEM ERIKA PEDERSEN-LORENZEN ALEKSA STEFANOVIC ALEXANDER WONG OMAR ZIA HOLLY BLAIR SAM HEICHERT ANNA AVITSIAN MITCH MACEACHERN YARA KASHLAN CLINTON SOANS DMITRY ZAYTSEV GEOFF LOGAN SIDDHARTH BHALLA NICOLE NORRIS LYNDA HSU DAVID KWOK DEVAHASAN KRISHNAKUMAR CYNTHIA LIU ANTOINETTA EMMANUEL BRIAN MILLADO DEEPIKA SAINI ISHRAT FATIMA MIN JOON (JEFF) JANG ROGER XU CASEY YUEN RENAN OZEN VANESSA CABRERA JACKIE CHOU SHARNELLE KAN TAIMOOR AHMAD MARIAM NOUSER NASRUDIN MUMIN ELIZABETH WOOD BRENNAN DOHERTY HUNTER MACINNES ILLYA GORDIYENKO PETRIJA DOS SANTOS JOSEPHINE TSE VIVEK MCCAGUE KATII CAPERN RANA ABDALLA MELISSA GONZALEZ JORDAN MACDONALD

THE ARTICLES SECTION

EGO ECHOES MITCH MACEACHERN

Echoes come in two forms: good and evil. Everyone can agree that a person who does all they can in their daily existence to leave a positive mark on the world, is an example of a good echo. People do wonderful and beautiful acts of kindness every moment of every day, all over the world. Unfortunately they are not as widely recognized as, say, a school shooter, or conniving politician. These sorts of people seem to be the glorified ones, even if their glory is infamous. But why? Why is it that we as a society, the most modern, free, and civil in the history of the human race, still to this day deem violence, war, murder and acts of evil more important than altruism and selflessness? I am not blaming the news, or television, the internet, or films, because all of these mediums do report, or dramatize, kindness in its myriad of forms. The internet is chalk-full of examples of altruism and humanitarianism; films almost always portray the success of the protagonist as opposed to the antagonist; and the news broadcasts stretch to include at least one positive news story each and every evening. So who is to blame then? Well, it’s you. You are to blame. And so am I. And so is every person who lives in the modern world of today. To be modern is to be selfish. To be selfish is to be evil. Modernity is inherently evil for one major reason: possessions; the pursuit of them, the acquiring of them and the inevitable discarding of them. The whole of the modern world is fueled by consumerism. The market was originally designed to sell necessaries, be it clothes, food, or specialist services like that of a welder, hunter, or builder, for example. Now the market sells souls. By this I mean, in today’s consumer-driven world, one is only the worth of one’s possessions. We pity the homeless because they have nothing; we envy our neighbours because they have more. We attach worth to what we can possess, and we possess what we work to buy. A person with a Ferrari is deemed by society to be more important than a person with a bike. Modern society has swapped divine providence for store-bought, pre-packaged souls. We are what we own. But, to quote Chuck Palahniuk, “The things you own end up owning you.” And because we have so much stuff, and our cosmic weight – our very soul’s justification for existence – is inextricably linked to the various ‘things’ we’ve bought and now possess, we have become a selfish, fearful, and damn evil society. Instead of looking out for others, and glorifying those people who do, we skitter around like rats, hoarding, wishing only to gather as much as possible and keep it away from others. Our very soul de-

pends on the fact that we have a phone, a car, nice clothes, a big house, and lots of money to buy more of everything we think we need. To make matters worse, because we believe it is our soul that demands from us these things, who are we to say no? I am being mean, perhaps, but my word choice is intentional because, should you be offended by what I am saying – if you feel that I am wrong about you – maybe you should stop defending yourself for a moment and let my words sink in. Your ego, that ever-present, self-serving device of compulsion is the original possessor. Your ego thinks you own you, and you don’t. You are not special, unique, or entitled. You are not an ‘I’. And neither am I. I am no better or worse than you, nor you me. We are all equal, and deserve all of our attention. My idea of a world is not one of individualism but altruism. Instead of looking out for number one, look out for others. What would a world look like if everyone cared more about each other than they did themselves? I don’t know. Better? Maybe. It’s a fun thought to play around with, but probably impossible. All I know is that I will try every day to destroy what I possess. Zero attachments. Then live for as many other people as I can. But, hey, this is just me thinking out loud. None of this may matter to you at all. This is a reality that I unfortunately understand all too well. It gets me down sometimes. But then I think: echoes.

YOU ARE TO BLAME. AND SO AM I. AND… EVERY PERSON WHO LIVES IN THE MODERN WORLD OF TODAY. TO BE MODERN IS TO BE SELFISH. TO BE SELFISH IS TO BE EVIL.

ALL HAIL BANANA KID BRIAN MILLADO

Around Spring of 2014, a video on YouTube went viral, showing a young boy opening a prank gift from his family (See: April Fools Prank Backfired! | Little Kid LOVES Banana). The toddler opens the prank present, and the adults are expecting him to be disappointed to find a plain old banana. To the surprise of the family, the young boy screams: “A banana!” Various commenters of the video praised the kid for his gratefulness towards the gift. It was a moment we as maturing adults can all learn from. The initial and patronizing view of this young, inexperienced child could have been “This naive child loves this banana! How silly!” But the true wonder of the Banana Kid was that he gave us a beautiful idea: Find your bananas. Sometimes, these small actions or reactions can have the greatest echoes. The young boy in this video exemplifies this idea. In anything, whether it is art, sports, hobbies, etc., it is easy to get caught up in life so as to forget how impactful the little moments are. By becoming too focused on the end goal, we risk not appreciating the scenes around you. Looking back upon your time at Ryerson University, try to recall your most cherished memories. Although the various awards, high grades and great projects are pivotal landmarks to strive for during your university experience, these cherished memories likely consist of the great people you met and the wonderful conversations you have had with them. It was the moments you shared honestly that mattered most. So try to make each of your own moments count. Additionally, remember that even the smallest actions can have the greatest impact on what we do daily. One domino, just like one YouTube video, if used correctly, can affect millions. An example would be circulating compliments. A genuine, respectful comment, requiring a small, but honest, effort from the sender, may change the course of a person’s day completely. Perception truly is a powerful element - even something as insignificant as a banana can affect your life in a positive way. But only if you choose it to. As university students with our eyes fixated on our futures and end goals, it can be easy to overlook the small moments. It is possible to work so hard for the future that we forget about enjoying the present. If being naive and silly can help make moments matter, and if it is true that moments make up a life, then it is safe to say, search for more bananas. I feel that, in order to live life with passion and enjoyment, we must take a lesson from the Banana Kid. There is a difference between growing older and growing up. Find the bananas in your life. Long live, Banana Kid.

EVEN SOMETHING AS INSIGNIFICANT AS A BANANA CAN AFFECT YOUR LIFE IN A POSITIVE WAY. BUT ONLY IF YOU CHOOSE IT TO.

THE ECHOES WE CREATE SISSI WANG

What’s the first thing most people do when things go wrong? They blame it on their circumstance or other people - their parents, friends, professors, or colleagues. We don’t usually look at ourselves to examine what we’ve done wrong or what we could have done better to improve the situation. When I was younger, I’d fret about how unreasonable my parents were compared to my friends’. How horrible the professors were that never made an effort to get to know their students. How snobby some of my colleagues were, and the list went on. One day, I stumbled upon a quote that said: “You cannot change the world by being like the world. Stand alone. Stand apart. Stand out. Stand for something. Stand up and be brave.” I realized in that moment it was I that needed to change. To improve the quality of my relationships and in turn the quality of my life, I needed to learn to deal with disappointments and frustrations in my relationships in a positive way. The introspection and questioning began, and the conclusion I arrived at was this: we get what we put out into the world, and the external reality is a reflection of our internal state of mind. We have to be responsible for our own happiness. The power to create a more fulfilling life lies within us, not externally. There’s a sense of freedom in knowing we can design and have the life we want. Gradually, I began feeling lighter, more content and at peace with myself. Now, whenever I run into conflicts with my parents, I force myself to listen to what they have to say instead of tuning out, to understand where their concern is coming from. I realized I could’ve made more effort to get to know my professors better in the past, and I learned how to face the world with more understanding and empathy. When we confront the problems and setbacks we face from this new angle – shifting the responsibility to us, we will find ourselves feeling satisfied and at peace with our decisions. I’ve come a long way to be able to accept and make the best of the hand I’ve been dealt. I’m choosing to focus more of my time and energy on work and relationships that I find meaningful and will make me come alive. And interestingly enough, life has responded to my different approach with even more graciousness. Just like being in an empty room, when we sing a cheerful tune, we hear the joyfulness repeated back to us loud and clear. Bottom line: keep putting out good into the world. It’ll come back to you tenfold in unexpected ways.

THERE’S A SENSE OF FREEDOM IN KNOWING WE CAN DESIGN AND HAVE THE LIFE WE WANT.

THE PAST IS IN THE FUTURE BRENNAN DOHERTY The future is as much about the past as it is about the present. Any visionary--be they a futurist, speculative-fiction writer, or scientist--ultimately makes predictions regarding the technological, scientific, or social landscape of tomorrow through the lens of yesterday’s patterns. And despite the ease of gathering and analysing ongoing trends today, the overall conclusions of any particular visionary depend on the focus of their particular lens. Early August saw the release of a joint survey of experts conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Internet Project, and Elon University’s ‘Imagining the Internet’ Center. Over 1,900 experts in a wide range of disciplines--Internet theorists, Google designers, military scientists, professors, writers, anthropologists--were asked their opinions on a variety of potential future issues: anything from the potential for extreme social inequality, to the future role of robots and AI on the economy. Forty-eight per cent of respondents believed that anticipated revolutions in AI and robotics would begin to force people out in favour of more efficient, cheap, intelligent machines. Justin Reich, an Internet theorist advanced the theory that computerized automation as seen in the auto and manufacturing industries would only continue on: “Robots and AI will increasingly replace routine kinds of work--even the complex routine performed by artisans, factory workers, lawyers, and accountants. There will be a labour market in the service sector for non-routine jobs that can be performed by just about anyone...the gains at the top of the labour market will not be offset by losses in the middle and gains of terrible jobs at the bottom.” The other fifty-two per cent held onto the belief that any future developments would inevitably add more (or different) jobs to the economy. Respondents such as Pamela Rutledge were not convinced that humans could be so easily replaced: “There will be many things that machines can’t do, such as services that require thinking, creativity, synthesizing, problem-solving, and innovating... Advances in AI and robotics allow people to cognitively affect repetitive tasks and invest their attention and energy in things where humans can make a difference.” The split was telling. Indecisiveness on the part of the futurists consulted for this project, across multiple broad disciplines, implies that there could be a factor beyond the study at hand affecting their responses. It is also not surprising. Futurism--the study and analysis of possible future developments--is a broad, multi-disciplinary field that is best (though loosely) studied through a combination of history, sociology, and statistical analysis. Futurists themselves are often brought together in focus groups or think-tanks (such as the Institute for Future Studies) designed to contain a diversity of perspective. Bio-engineers will rub shoulders with sociologists,

historians--even artists--to map out the impending sweeping trends affecting society, and how they might be directed for maximum benefit. Given the ease of access and research afforded by the Internet, futurist focus groups have unprecedented access to data concerning the direction of current trends. Universities, defense departments, and multi-national corporations are all willing and able to fund futurist groups for the sake of speculation, security, or profit. The present has never been more profitable for the future’s sake. But, despite futurist statements on extraordinary modern development--”We are in the middle of a historical transformation. Current times are not just part of normal history”--the future has never been so enmeshed in the past as ever. It’s always been the case that visionaries are reduced to describing their visions in language and situations constrained by the present. The best they can do is compare: metaphor, simile, and allegory are excellent conveyors of meaning. Unfortunately, this also dilutes the impact of any futurist’s theories. The statements from Reich and Rutledge above are perfect examples: if the words ‘automation’, ‘robotics’, and ‘AI’ were removed, their words could have come out of a critique on the Industrial Revolution. This should not be the intent. Future studies are meant as specific theories regarding potential outcomes to today’s trends, yet they have the potential to come across as boilerplate statements on the echoes of yesterday’s historical patterns into tomorrow. The very founding of futurism is based on this principle. H.G. Wells, the early twentieth-century writer considered to be the founding father of the modern science-fiction novel, created the first work of futurism in a novel titled “Reaction of Mechanical and Scientific Progress Upon Human Life and Thought: An Experiment in Prophecy.” Released in 1901, this book managed to accurately predict a number of social, political, and technological advances that would take place before the year 2000--suburbanization due to efficient highway/rail systems, loosening of sexual and gender-based morals for both genders, the defeat of German militarism. It also missed a number of events: the creation of efficient transport aircraft, the perfection of submarines, the creation of the Internet. H.G. Wells wasn’t Nostradamus reincarnated. He overlooked a number of developments, in part because he was analysing (and amplifying) trends already blindingly obvious at his time period. Rail lines had been expanding with remarkable coverage and efficiency since the 1880s to connect isolated hamlets and towns across Europe and North America. The late suffragette and early feminist movements of the late Victorian era had already challenged the patriarchal ‘place’ of a woman, in subordination to a man’s role as the income generator of a family unit. And given the patriotism

IT’S ALWAYS BEEN THE CASE THAT VISIONARIES ARE REDUCED TO DESCRIBING THEIR VISIONS IN LANGUAGE AND SITUATIONS CONSTRAINED BY THE PRESENT. and nationality of Wells (British), his prediction of Germany’s defeat at the hands of Western Europe is not surprising. The amplification of present trends is important, but should not be substituted for other forms of prediction. In particular, the concept of design fiction presents itself as an alternative to the traditional prediction of the future--through macro-theories attempting to deduce patterns in entire fields of study. Design fiction is a technique for groups to generate concepts about future life in a detached way, with the intent of suspending disbelief. Science-fiction writer Bruce Sterling described it in Slate magazine as “the deliberate use of diagetic prototypes to suspend disbelief about change...It means you’re thinking very seriously about potential objects and services, and trying to get people to concentrate on those rather than entire worlds or political trends or geopolitical strategies. It’s not a kind of fiction. It’s a kind of design. It tells worlds rather than stories.” An elaborate, multi-layered collaboration of many different experts to facilitate imagination. The concept isn’t far removed from storyboard sessions in movie studios or video-game ventures-- and it’s being taken seriously by think-tanks worldwide. MIT Media Lab runs a number of design fiction projects. A 2012 meeting of futurists, titled ‘Under Tomorrow’s Skies’, used the talents of a variety of digital, print, and film storytellers alongside scientists and future studies consultants with the aim of designing,

over a period of several weeks, an imaginary future city. Artists were taken as seriously as scientists, with the express purpose being the piece-by-piece design of potential futures. In the case of TBD, the term ‘piece-by-piece’ literally applies. The futurist venture used a design fiction protocol to build their own near-future environment from the ground up--in the form of a catalogue. “[We took] the things that seemed liminal, the things in our laboratories, in the public media, in science-fiction films, in economic projections and then extrapolated these ideas and prototypes and made them into ‘things’ in the near future. But, specific kinds of near future things. Not hyperbolic perfections, but those things as they would exist as part of normal, every-day life.” The point is to reverse-engineer anthropology. To provide a bottom-up, micro-theory approach of practical futurism. To allow material things to be the building blocks of daily life, then culture, then society. To buck the trend, and the ingrained human tendency to articulate the new by describing it in comparison to the old. History and futurism is a duality: each discipline’s binding one another together while simultaneously repelling each other’s findings. The behemoths of socio-historical prediction cannot continue to dictate the future. The past cannot continue to reverberate into the future through the present. In the age of intense and dramatic technological disruption that is today, this simply isn’t possible.

SHELDON LEVY IN THE SPOTLIGHT CORMAC MCGEE

It shouldn’t be difficult to spot Sheldon Levy in a crowd, but Ryerson’s six-foot-two president has made a habit of blending in on campus. Over the past 10 years, Levy has led the charge on Ryerson’s quest to be Canada’s leader in innovative, career-focused education. His master plan includes the closure of Gould St. to traffic, the Mattamy Athletic Centre, the new Student Learning Centre opening in winter 2015, Ryerson’s six zone learning centres for budding entrepreneurs from fashion to urban energy, the Ryerson Image Gallery and the planned massive Church St. development mixing retail stores, and Ryerson schools and a residence. These achievements have earned him numerous accolades, including the number 16 spot on Toronto Life’s 50 Most Influential People in Toronto. But he’s quick to deflect attention away from himself. The only reason Levy may not stand out is because he doesn’t want to. In an interview with RUtv News, he explains: “It’s never about me, it’s never about the office. It takes a community to achieve anything.” Levy’s philosophy is that reflective light is the best light. He has always been student-focused, his goal is to make us — and by extension, Ryerson — great. And it’s happening. Ryerson students, faculty and staff are making names for themselves, whether it’s by winning gold medals at the Olympic Games, running cutting-edge companies or helping organize WorldPride, the list goes on and on. But we know human action, invention, and creation is far more than the end result, and sitting quietly in the background, starting the wave, is Levy. As he prepares to step down at the end of the school year, the echo he leaves behind is Ryerson’s student-first approach. For the past 10 years he’s advocated that Canada put students at the centre of its economic strategies, and he’s started through action at Ryerson. “The memories that you have of everyone are your legacy, all you have at the end of the day is your name, and you hope it’s a good name … If people say ‘He did his best, was an honest guy, and left it better than he received it,’ that’s good enough.” There’s no doubt they’ll be saying more than that. Levy’s success comes from focusing on his passion: student development. As he shows, the farther you step away from the spotlight, the more people want it on you. What are you doing to avoid it?

IT’S NEVER ABOUT ME, IT’S NEVER ABOUT THE OFFICE. IT TAKES A COMMUNITY TO ACHIEVE ANYTHING.

ECHOES DEFINED YARA KASHLAN

echo noun noun: echo; plural noun: echoes definition (As I have come to learn): is one’s experiences throughout their lives, suggest ing a teachable lesson An echo can be defined in various ways, but the common concept is that it is a repeating element. Because the word has different meaning to many people it can kindle a personal experience. For a hiker, an echo is the sound he hears upon reaching the cave at the top of a mountain, symbolizing his accomplishment. To an expecting mother, an echo is the ultrasound of her child telling her “I’m o.k. in here”. These echoes are sounds of empowerment. On the other hand, to a student constantly struggling with school, work and life, being worn out may be the echo telling them to take a break and learn how to achieve balance. A child learning how to swim may struggle with taking the first jump into the pool. An echoing fear may take over and hold her back as she attempts to take a big chance and learn how to trust. We all have echoes in our lives, from recurring ideas, fears, to actions or ambitions. Events we experience mount up to teachable moments and it is up to us, individually, to piece the many echoes of our lives together and to really listen and understand what one particular event or echo meant; for there are many defining moments that shape who we are. These defining moments are a repetition of a theme in our journey. It is crucial to tap into, and reflect on the echoes in your life; contemplate and identify them. Some echoes may appear to inadvertently hold you back and some empower you. When people see a loved one facing a particular situation, they immediately seek to help. But what many professionals advise is you can’t help someone if they are not ready to help themselves. An echo is a good place to start when trying to aspire for change. Do not block these messages; channel this energy and use it to grow and learn from your life experiences. Repetition can be a positive thing, if you miss the message the first time, it will return to you once again, usually stronger. Echoes in our lives are messages resonating within us, informing us that there needs to be change within our lives. It may appear at first that the echoes are holding you back, but they are actually there to empower if you choose to listen. When you ignore the messages, that’s when you are held back, but it is not the echo itself that does. To act upon these echoes creates self-empowerment and growth. So reflect upon your journey and identify your echoes.

EVENTS WE EXPERIENCE MOUNT UP TO TEACHABLE MOMENTS.

THE MESSAGE BEHIND ANXIETY SYDNEY NEILSON

Stress is one of the most intriguing tools within humanity, there to help us differentiate safety from danger. At its most animalistic core, stress is our internal alarm whirring to life, reminding us that something’s off. However, if you’ve ever been told to “calm down,” only to find that to be about as helpful as screaming “turn off ” at a blaring car alarm, then you know the feeling. Whether you’re a seasonal stress-fiend or suffer from extreme anxiety on a regular basis, managing stress is key to leading a manageable, positive life. If stress is biologically there to help us and keep us safe, why is it so hard to control? Stress is a feeling of tension, whether it’s emotional, physical, or both. But anxiety is a million things – it’s that spiky heartbeat of dread before you send in your final paper, it’s the flutter of fear before you step into an important interview. It’s that endless flicker of doubt that just won’t seem to falter. Even small, everyday things like using the phone or introducing yourself can bring about these feelings of deep discomfort. It’s not uncommon, but why? Ultimately, I see anxiety as your mind trying to bring your attention to something. Whether it’s something that will inevitably help you grow or not, it’s a nagging feeling that only gets worse when ignored. Anxiety is a buildup of passion morphed and manifested into fear, and fear can be a powerful thing—a great indication that you’re about to do something for yourself. In this generation of texting, posting, liking, friending, and following, it’s hard not to get overwhelmed or caught up in the over-generalized culture of the Internet. The focus on mass appeal and universality has become a frenzy of click-bait and watered-down content for general appeal. There are niche websites for every type of egocentrics and personality, and feeling anxiety over the ostentatious lists of things that “Everyone NEEDS To Do/Know/Say/Be,” is nothing uncommon. Media can be overwhelming. However, it’s also something that you can control. Websites have settings and preferences; use them. Take a light approach to reading online – take everything with a grain of salt. The Internet is a barely-monitored collection of anyone and everyone’s ideas, many of which have less-than-pure ulterior motives rooted in promotions and sales. Remember that you have just as much of a voice. Even city living has become a strange burden to bear. When such a location provides you with so many opportunities to be taken advantage of, the number of options for every task at hand can be overwhelming. Transit and dining decisions alone are two of the most prominent “first world

problems” of any city-dweller. However, these stresses are just like every other – they come with their own batch of comforts and relief as well. Where else can you find an all-bacon eatery, or a restaurant serviced by the blind? Remember why you love where you live, and never forget it. There’s a place for everyone, you’ve just got to look for it. Stepping out of your comfort zone can bring you that much closer to mindfulness and peace. It’s hard to tell when fear is excitement manifesting itself as anxiety, or if the apprehension stems from somewhere real. There is a balance between anxiety and fear. Fear holds you back, but can also push you forward. Think of fear in the way that lightning strikes: it’s surprising and powerful, but there is beauty and strength in it. There will never be a guarantee that something is “the right thing” to do, but harnessing that strength within yourself will give you the confidence to find out. But what happens when you don’t feel like you’re where you need to be? A lot of people fall into the unhealthy misstep of looking past progress and only seeing the ultimate goal (which isn’t always guaranteed). Acknowledging progress is important – for morale, for self-esteem, and for giving you credit where it’s due. Self-evolution is not a one-step process. Find a philosophy that works for you, and the benefits will resonate through your life. Let it Echo “Pay it forward” has established itself in recent culture as a paradigm of positivity and good will—the idea that each good deed procures another, to another. It’s a phrase people are familiar with, but is not often recognized as a practical philosophy. I believe that the concept of paying it forward is the first step in setting your life up to positively return the favour. By setting yourself up to naturally emit positivity, it will always come back around. Your personal investment in the boomerang effect is what makes the difference. “Pay it forward,” “the boomerang effect,” “the domino effect,” whatever you want to call it, kindness is contagious. It’s the little things that make people the happiest, so why not start there? Adding a pinch of positivity to mundane habits will always help – changing your morning alarm to a favourite song, putting up posters in a room you’re always stressing in, finding what makes you happy and hiding it where you’ll find it later. Putting those feelings of restlessness to bed with positivity (even for a moment) will always echo back around. Nobody can know you better than you can know yourself – it just takes recognizing that fact to motivate you properly. You are the one that feels the

ANXIETY IS A BUILD-UP OF PASSION MORPHED AND MANIFESTED INTO FEAR.

stress. You are the one that recognizes the feeling, so you have to be the one to recognize the source. Take steps to improve your habits by recognizing your triggers and their resonance. Does something you or others do make you consistently uncomfortable or anxious? Figuring out the person, place, or situation that causes your anxiety to flare is the first step in preventing it. Find the triggers, understand them, and use them to your advantage. Listen to your emotions, accept them and use them. When you understand your emotions you can better position yourself to handle them. Ask yourself the right questions for you. Does it really matter? If it does, how can you properly adapt for the situation? What have you learned from your peers, parents, friends, that has helped you manage your stress? Who do you admire in their stress-management skills? Why? Do you want to be right or happy? Give yourself time to think about these things. Complacency is easy, but it only makes things harder. The idea that leaving something alone will make it go away is ludicrousâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;those dishes left overnight will take twice as long to clean (and you know it). Pushing down your anxiety will only do the same. Take one question at a time, one worry at a time â&#x20AC;&#x201C; remember, self-evolution is never really over. The more powerful your positivity, the more powerful your echoes.

EXPAND YOUR ECHO HUNTER MACINNES

You get on a bus, and everybody is looking downwards, transfixed on their technology. Long gone are the days when you would make eye contact with a stranger and acknowledge their existence, much less exchange a few words with anybody that you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t already know. But it is not the technology itself that has us hypnotized, it is the newly enabled, inherent need to always be closely connected to the people within our networks. Through these networks, our thoughts, ideas, accomplishments, and experiences are shared with the people that we have chosen to connect with on a daily basis. Some people take the time to consciously assess the shared information of others, while others skim through their timelines passively without much regard for who said or did what. Regardless, your thoughts and actions are echoing through to the lives of the people you connect with. Although it can often go unnoticed, you are learning from these people everyday, and adding the knowledge that they have shared with you, into your own personal repertoire. Now can you imagine how much more you would know if you opened yourself up to interacting with people beyond your immediate social circle? What if you left your electronic devices in your bag and allowed yourself to be approachable to others? What if you started a conversation with a stranger? You would be astonished at how easy it actually is, and how rewarding it feels to learn new things from somebody you have never seen before and may never see again. Essentially, to converse with a stranger means to converse with someone who has a different background, different values, different hobbies, different dreams, different friends, and who has visited different placesâ&#x20AC;Ś These are things that you may never learn from anybody you are closely acquainted with, as they are too similar to yourself. And the ideas that are exchanged in such a situation will be projected further than you could possibly have done without this connection. Social networks are very powerful, and I challenge you to utilize them to their full capacity. Talk to strangers, and expand your echo.

WHAT IF YOU STARTED A CONVERSATION WITH A STRANGER?

URBAN AGRICUTURE NICOLE NORRIS

I drive my shovel into the soil underneath the hearty roots of a persistent daylily. I reach down and pull on it hard. It resists being torn out with all its might, but my hands are strong and my will is stronger. As I hear its roots tear, it releases its grip on the soil and I hold it up and reflect on how there is something so satisfying about working the land. A sort of primal ecstasy that is only realized in understanding that where there is death, there is also life. This land needs to be prepared in order to plant food, and as a result the daylilies must go. But this land is not actually land at all, this is the Rye’s HomeGrown Rooftop farm on Ryerson Campus which lies atop the George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre. I am a member of a small team of volunteers who have come together to transform the roof into a thriving jungle of food producing plants. As excited as I am to give this garden my blood sweat and tears, this isn’t just about getting my hands dirty and discovering the inner farmer in me. This is a political action. In many neighbourhoods around the city food is becoming the common language that connects us. One can hardly walk fifty feet through Regent Park, South Riverdale or Trinity Spadina without encountering food gardens crammed into front yards, backyards, balconies, roofs and parks. These gardens, with their cluttered masses of entangled vines are beautiful for what they represent. Growing food with our neighbours has the capacity to build bridges between cultures through our interactions and the sharing of knowledge, which can create meaningful partnerships. Community gardens are tangible representations of how many low-income communities are taking issues such as hunger, food insecurity and diet related diseases into their own hands. They can be a place of relaxation, spirituality and connection to each other, our bodies and the earth (even if that earth is a vertical balcony garden 10 stories above the ground). Coming together to grow food in the spirit of solidarity gives us a forum to discuss social change and the faults of the current food system. A system which is based on environmentally damaging processes, the devaluation of food diversity and exploitation of its farmers. Just like in the rest of the city, a food revolution is occurring on Ryerson’s campus that is concerned with local food, food justice and food access. As our understanding of where food can be grown expands, so too does our definition of what an urban food movement can look like. One where we can come together to grow, cook, eat and discuss those issues that matter most.

COMMUNITIES ARE TAKING ISSUES SUCH AS HUNGER, FOOD INSECURITY AND DIET RELATED DISEASES INTO THEIR OWN HANDS.

REMNANTS OF CHOICE ANDREA VACL Imagine shredding a plastic bottle into miniscule pieces and then dumping those pieces into a pot of water. The result, a plastic soup, is what large parts of the ocean look like. Plastic makes its way into the ocean in a number of ways. Debris including plastic is often washed into waterways after storms. Also, before plastics are made in to consumer products, the nurdles, or plastic pellets, which are melted down and moulded to create products, often escape during transport and find their way into channels. On an even smaller level, microbeads (plastic bits smaller than a millimeter) found in facial products and toothpastes are regularly washed down drains and into streams because most water treatment plants have difficulty filtering them out. Most plastic found in aquatic environments comes from on-land activity, including plastic litter. Once plastic enters bodies of water it drifts out to the ocean, where circular currents push debris into central locations far from land. These currents are called gyres. There are five gyres in the world’s oceans where debris collects and slowly breaks down. In the past, when all the debris in the ocean was biodegradable, the centers of gyres were nutrient rich. Then plastic arrived. The most researched of all the gyres, the North Pacific Gyre, is estimated to have a plastic garbage-patch approximately the size of Texas. But if you were to fly over the North Pacific Gyre you wouldn’t see a statesized island of floating plastic bottles and bags. As plastic floats through the water it is exposed to ultraviolet radiation and heat from the sun, causing it to break into smaller and smaller pieces, until it becomes as small as individual polymers dispersed through the water like confetti. As plastics break in water they can release chemicals added to them during the manufacturing process, such as flame retardants, and in the case of some polycarbonate plastics, Bisphenol-A (BPA). Some studies show that BPA interferes with natural hormones and can cause reproductive issues, among other health problems. BPA is not a naturally occurring compound, yet it has become so dispersed that nearly everyone in the world has traces of it in their bodies. Plastics in the environment not only release chemicals but absorb them as well. As plastic products break down, their total surface area increases, in turn increasing available space to chemically bond with toxic persistent organic pollutants such as PAHs, PCBs and DDTs. This causes the small plastic pieces in the ocean to act like sponges, absorbing toxic chemical in their surrounding environment. The presence of these toxin soaked plastics, dispersed throughout aquatic environments is impacting wildlife immensely. “Midway: Message from the Gyre” is a photographic art project by Chris Jordan which features photographs of dead albatrosses on the Midway Atoll in the Pacific. What makes his photographs shocking is seeing the mounds of multi-coloured

plastics in the centre of decomposing albatross flesh and feathers. These birds are consuming so much plastic that their stomachs become full of it preventing them from eating real food and starving them to death from lack of nutrients According to Algalita Marine Research and Education in 2009, on average, there was 36 times more plastic than natural zooplankton (one of the smallest organisms in the ocean) by weight in the North Pacific Ocean. Small toxic bits of plastic are eaten by small organisms at the bottom of the food web. As the plastics make their way up through the food chain through bio amplification, toxins bond to the fat cells of the organisms they enter, eventually reaching much higher levels in bigger fish and other aquatic organisms. We then eat these fish. Our plastic trash that we send out in garbage trucks is echoed back to us, appearing on our dinner plates. There are some ideas on how to fix the problem but they all have challenges to face in finding a solution to our plastic problem. Plastic is changing how the ecosystem interacts with its environment which has created what scientists call the plastisphere. For example, coral reefs have started to grow on floating trash and sea skaters eggs have increased on microplastics. How do you remove plastic without affecting the organisms living on it? Also a clean-up operation on a large scale is costly. Finding the money to launch a project can be an issue. The Clean Oceans Project is a non-profit from California that is proposing that a large catamaran skim the surface for plastic by sweeping debris into streams and bring it on to a conveyer belt that wards off sea creatures by vibrating. The plastics collected would then be sorted by polymer. A Blest plastic-to-crude oil converter would be used to produce energy to fuel the project. The project would only remove larger floating pieces of plastic, but removing larger pieces of plastic should reduce microplastics over time. The project would also rely heaving on other organizations to fund it since it is not profitable. Boyan Slat, a Dutch engineering student, developed a passive collection system where manta-ray shaped platforms connected by booms, catching plastics as the currents move through them and allowing wildlife to pass underneath. All the plastic that is collected would be separated by gentle centrifugation and the plastic would be sold to recyclers to cover the cost of the project. But even if either of these projects is successful in alleviating the problem, the problem will be never ending if we continue to produce plastic at exceptionally high rates with minimal recycling. The fate of our oceans lies with the producer and the consumer.

THE NORTH PACIFIC GYRE, IS ESTIMATED TO HAVE A PLASTIC GARBAGE PATCH APPROXIMATELY THE SIZE OF TEXAS.

WHAT DO WE WANT TO LEAVE? ISHRAT FATIMA

The word “echo” comes from Greek mythology. Echo was the name of a nymph who was given the task of diverting the Goddess, Hera’s attention while the God of sky and thunder, Zeus had an affair. Hera eventually discovered what Echo had done, and eternally cursed her for it, reducing her to only be able to repeat what others around her would say. This leaves us with an interesting concept: Are echoes a curse, as Hera intended them to be? This curse may not impact us the way that it did the nymph, but the concept still remains relatively similar. If repetition can be a curse, I wonder then, are we doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past? Are we to only recycle and reuse all the ideas, thoughts, innovations, music, words, and solutions of the past? Is this curse something inevitable, and something that Hera put on all of us? Some days it seems so. Especially when violence, ignorance and indifference plagues our world in the same manner that it did centuries ago. The “curse” can be broken, and in fact has been, many times, by various and differing individuals. People like the author Maya Angelou, leaders such as Nelson Mandela and many other artists and great thinkers sought to change the way in which we perceive this world and how we handle ourselves within it. These people left behind positive echoes for us to hear and learn from. On the other hand we have people who conformed to negative echoes. People like Genghis Khan or Hitler – people who still affect the way people think. They are examples of negative echoes, the repercussions of which still linger to this day. Hera intended repetition to be a form of eternal torment for Echo. In an ideal world, Echo could very well alter this torment by surrounding herself with the good and the positive, and therefore repeating and spreading those same qualities for herself and others. But what about the negative? How would Echo prevent herself from forming destructive and harmful repetitions? She would have to ask herself if there is a way in which she could break the curse. All change starts on an individual level. Increasing our degree of consciousness in any given situation is one of the most important ways to prevent ourselves from forming echoes that impact others in a negative way. More specifically, being conscious of our feelings and their effects. On an individual level, this can be done by keeping track of how we feel and especially how these feelings translate into our actions. This is central to what we emit into the world because our feelings impact our actions, and those actions impact other people’s feelings. Being aware of ourselves and what we give off to those around us isn’t completely intrinsic. It’s not an inherent quality. It’s a habit that grows sharper and stronger with time and effort, something that must constantly be worked on. The way we make other people feel is one of the biggest echoes that we leave behind. These echoes to some extent have control over the thoughts, energies, feelings and ideas that others have, and that they will then spread on their own. Echo would aim to propagate the parts of her that leave behind echoes of compassion and goodness, therefore encouraging it for others. Whether it is the words that we write, the music that we create, the ideas that we support or the way that we make other people feel; we have not only the opportunity, but the responsibility to make sure that we are leaving behind messages of growth, love, creation, empowerment, justice and truth.

IF REPETITION CAN BE A CURSE, I WONDER THEN, ARE WE DOOMED TO REPEAT THE MISTAKES OF THE PAST?

SLC: A LEGACY TYLER WEBB

Next semester Ryerson will open the doors to its newest building, the Student Learning Centre (SLC). The SLC will redefine student space on campus, providing room for 2,300 students to study, collaborate and share ideas. It will host impressive new facilities including a Digital Media Zone expansion, a Digital Media Experience hub and consolidated Student Learning Support programs. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a building to be excited about. But a strange thing happens when students finish their studies in four short years. Buildings that forever changed the landscape of campus start to feel as though they have always been there. Think of the Mattamy Athletic Centre, the Image Arts Building or the Ted Rogers School of Management. The incredible excitement about a new space is quickly replaced by the culture of those who use it. Each new building is filled with the echoes of the cohorts that pass through it, its culture and community informed by the every day actions of the students who inhabit it. Our challenge, as the first cohort of the SLC is to define that culture. We have the opportunity to actively decide the tone of the building and how the community uses it. We have at our fingertips a world-class learning destination, a building all Ryerson students can be proud to call home. Since 2008 thousands of students have had their say in what the SLC should be. The information gained from surveys, town halls, focus groups, and campus canvassing has directly informed every design element of the building. Now it is our time to decide what culture we will build, what our everyday actions will be, what will echo through the SLC for generations of students to come. In a few short years, when a new Ryerson student steps foot in the SLC will they immediately feel proud of the space? Will the energy of the building inspire them? Those answers are up to all of us and we have been given, in true Ryerson fashion, the chance to make our mark.

THE INCREDIBLE EXCITEMENT ABOUT A NEW SPACE IS QUICKLY REPLACED BY THE CULTURE OF THOSE WHO USE IT.

ryerson.ca/slc #RSLC

THE ART SECTION

ANNA AVITSIAN “ABSTRACT LIGHTS 1” AVITSIANANNA.TUMBLR.COM FACEBOOK.COM/AVITSIANANNA

ANNA AVITSIAN “ABSTRACT LIGHTS 2” AVITSIANANNA.TUMBLR.COM FACEBOOK.COM/AVITSIANANNA

ANYA MIELNICZEK “ROTATIONS” WWW.ANYAMIELNICZEK.COM ANYAMIELNICZEK.TUMBLR.COM THEDIMESHOP.BIGCARTEL.COM @ ANYAMIELNICZEK

KATIE ADDISON “TRANSFER” KAYTEERELL.TUMBLR.COM @KAYTAYADDISON

THE LITTLE THINGS HOLLY BLAIR DEDICATED TO PASCALE FOREST-AXFORD

I TURNED MY HEAD SO HE COULDN’T KISS ME. RELINQUISHING WHAT LITTLE CONTROL I HAD LEFT I TURNED MY HEAD SO HE COULDN’T KISS ME. IRONICALLY, IT WAS TO THE LEFT I TURNED MY HEAD SO HE COULDN’T KISS ME. HE FINISHED. GOT UP AND LEFT. I TURNED MY HEAD SO HE COULDN’T KISS ME. JUMPSEAT FLASHBACKS. NAVY NYLON, TILTED, LEFT I TURNED MY HEAD SO HE COULDN’T KISS ME. “THAT WAS HIM WASN’T IT?” AS HE TURNED AND LEFT. I TURNED MY HEAD SO HE COULDN’T KISS ME. “IT’S JUST AN EXAM.” SOOTHES A NURSE ON MY LEFT. I TURNED MY HEAD SO HE COULDN’T KISS ME. THEN THERE WAS NOTHING LEFT.

SAM HEICHERT “ROTATIONS” SAM.HEICHERT@GMAIL.COM BEHANCE.NET/SAM-HEICHERT @SAMHIKURT

SAM HEICHERT “BOOKENDS” SAM.HEICHERT@GMAIL.COM BEHANCE.NET/SAM-HEICHERT

DAVID BRAME “LYE TO FIT IN” AMAZINGDAVIDILLUSTRATION@GMAIL.COM DAVIDBRAME.WEEBLY.COM

OUR AMAZING SPONSORS.

Congratulations, TEDxRyersonU, on a splendid five years! TEDxRyersonU has come a long way since the first conference in 2010, and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re honoured to have been a part of the TEDxRyersonU family since the beginning. Kite Technology Solutions Inc. offers comprehensive technology solutions for all kinds of events.

1 (855) 866-9699 â&#x2014;? info@kitetech.ca