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yersonian R WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2018
ryersonian.ca Volume 72 Number 12
Produced by the Ryerson School of Journalism
NEWS
Rye gears up for minimum wage hike SWIKAR OLI RYERSONIAN
According to Ryerson’s preliminary estimates, Ontario’s $15 minimum wage, starting in January 2019, will cost $1 million in the first two years. The hourly rate for minimum wage earners rose from $11.60 to $14 this year. The cost of higher pay “will be absorbed by the units affected,” Ryerson’s human resources manager Monika Dacosta wrote in an email statement. Entry-level support positions and work study roles encompass the job roles that will earn the $14 rate, she said. The government’s announcement to raise the minimum wage came nearly six months after Carrie-Ann Bissonnette, strategic projects liaison at the Student Learning Centre (SLC), had
submitted her department’s budget for the current fiscal year. She said she avoided staffing and scheduling cuts to her 31 frontline staff thanks to “smart planning.” Bissonnette said she will account for the 2019 wage increase when she submits the next SLC budget. Cooks, front desk staff, cashiers, mail room, and production assistants all earn this rate, according to Ryerson’s human resources page. It states that workers whose roles include “copy typing; filing; photocopying/scanning; providing courteous and efficient service to customers/ clients; responding to inquiries; processing orders,” may also be affected.
What’s online Check out ryersonian.ca to see how Ryerson is dancing its way to body positivity, and to see what happened with the men’s volleyball team in Winnipeg.
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Art with a ‘bang’ Violence meets spectacle at Bunker 2’s exhibit. See story on page 8
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Students design installation at Winter Stations page 5 Wednesday, January 24, 2018
OHIP+ won’t affect RSU plan MIRIAM VALDES-CARLETTI RYERSONIAN
With the new Ontario Health Insurance Plan Plus (OHIP+) program, Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) doesn’t intend on making any changes to its current health and dental plan. As of Jan. 1, 2018, the new OHIP+: Children and Youth Pharmacare plan covers 100 per cent of prescription drug costs for those under 25. The current RSU health plan covers only 80 per cent for students. Both plans only cover prescription drugs that are under the Ontario Drug Benefit Plan (ODBP). But the RSU plan does have other benefits. In addition to dental coverage, it also covers mental health services, as well as online video counselling. In spite of the RSU’s lower coverage in drug costs, Ali Yousaf, RSU’s vice-president operations, said its plan will remain the same during his term in office. “I think OHIP+ will help out a lot of students, but I also believe that they get great benefits through our health plan,” Yousaf said. “(Our) health and dental (plan) can help them do both.” Yousaf said that the RSU has been focused on mental health services and making them more accessible for students. In September 2017 the plan was updated to include online video counselling based on student demand. “That was the need and what students wanted,” Yousaf said. “So depending on what students exactly want, the services will be according to that.” The current RSU health and
dental plan allows students to opt into either plan separately, or combine both. Students can opt out starting in first year. One-third of Ryerson students, undergraduate and graduate, who opted into the plan pay $323 for the whole year, according to Yousaf. The RSU says it makes no profit off the plan and transfers it to students at cost. While the RSU health and dental plan isn’t making any changes, OHIP+ is good news for some students. Mariam Nouser, a fourthyear industrial engineering student who uses the program, said that it will save her approximately $3,000 by the time she turns 25 years old. She takes Latuda, a drug that treats mood disorders. “As a student, I don’t have a job right now and my medication is really important to me, I need it to function day-to-day,” she said. Nouser lost coverage on her mom’s insurance in 2018, but she’s now covered by OHIP+. However, she still opted into the RSU’s health and dental plan to take advantage of the dental and counselling coverage. OHIP+ has only had positive benefits for Nouser, but if there’s one thing she’d change, it’s that the program should be evaluated by income and not age, like the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP). Fahim Khan, who moved to Canada six years ago from Bangladesh, said he felt relief for others when the new OHIP+ plan was announced. The third-year engineering student had no coverage for the first two years in Canada and had health issues when he moved.
RASHA REHMAN | RYERSONIAN
Law school on track RASHA REHMAN RYERSONIAN
Ryerson University is on track to create a new generation of lawyers. With a focus on technology, innovation and entrepreneurship, Ryerson’s upcoming Juris Doctor (JD) program is positioning itself as a unique alternative to existing law schools in Ontario. Students will use classroom technology to innovate and participate in a mandatory coding boot camp. “Coding is so central to understanding the standing legal processing,” said Anver Saloojee, lead of Ryerson’s law school application. “They can follow a case, manage a case, and not just engage on the technological side, but it teaches them skill sets.” With Ryerson’s Digital Media Zone (DMZ) and Legal Innovation Zone (LIZ), future JD graduates will have easier access to entrepreneurship in legal technology than their competition. “Through legal technology,
there’s more access to justice,” said Shiwar Jabary, start-up experience assistant at LIZ. This is especially true now compared to before, when it was more expensive. Jabary said the new JD program will create 21st century lawyers who are, “always willing to change for the better in terms of efficiency, providing a better service, being able to give service to more people and looking always to do things in a better way.” While there is no guarantee of immediate employment, integrating a tech-focused curriculum would benefit graduates pursuing intellectual property law, cybersecurity or a legal startup, he said. Eden Prisoj, a first-year psychology student, is looking to attend law school after graduation. “The source of my anxiety when it comes to graduating from law school stems again from this idea of not finding a job,” said Prisoj. “If Ryerson can give me that competitive advantage over
the other legal graduates, that’s definitely something I’d be interested in.” But to Tiana Perricone, dual JD student at the University of Windsor and University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, the advantage of having a technological background would be small for new graduates. “If someone is set on studying family law, I don’t think much would change for them, other than it is always good to know more,” said Perricone. On the other hand, Saloojee believes,“we’re at a point where this profession (law) would benefit hugely from the kind of students that come to a law school at Ryerson.” The tentative opening date for the law school is September of 2020, with pending approvals from the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, the Ryerson Board, and the Ontario government. @rashareh
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Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Over $2,000 raised for homeless youth ASHLEY PUCH RYERSONIAN
A Ryerson student organization is helping fight the battle against homelessness in Toronto with its latest charity initiative. Engineers Without Borders Ryerson (EWB) raised over $2,000 at the launch of Ryerson TOgether, their new campaign, that took place at the SLC on Jan. 17. The focus of the campaign is to raise awareness and funds for youth homelessness in the GTA. Fahim Khan, head of Ryerson TOgether, said he wanted to help with an issue that directly affects the Ryerson community. “We call ourselves an urban university and youth homelessness is an issue that urban Toronto suffers from,” said Khan about why they chose to help this cause. “We believe in engagement, empowerment and empathy,” he said. “We believe that when students come together and engage with each other and try to bring together strong innovative solutions to solve different problems in our local community, the commitment towards the community can actually lead to a successful, positive and sustainable social change.” The night was set up as an auction, where guests bid money to throw whipped cream pies at several Ryerson student group executives. Susanne Nyaga, current president of the Ryerson Students’ Union, was one executive who volunteered to be pied twice. “When we talk about homelessness and see where Ryerson is located and we know that there are students who face homelessness on a daily basis, I think it’s
ASHLEY PUCH | RYERSONIAN
Nav Marwah, president of Ted Rogers Students’ Society, throws a pie at Edwin Philippe Gonzalves, president of the Ryerson Engineering Student Society at Ryerson TOgether’s launch event at the SLC.
really important that we start talking about it and bring awareness to it,” she said. Funds raised from the Ryerson TOgether campaign will benefit Covenant House Toronto and the Yonge Street Mission’s Evergreen Centre for Street Youth. Both of these are local organizations that help fight youth homelessness in the community. Michael Sheiner, a representative from Covenant House, said they are grateful for the help they receive from individuals and groups, including those at Ryerson. “We need as much support as possible in order to raise the $27 million we need to run all of our programs and services that we
provide to homeless, at risk and trafficked youth,” said Sheiner. Sheiner said that events and campaigns like Ryerson TOgether are a way to not only raise money, but also to bring awareness to everything the organization does for youth homelessness. “Covenant House not only just provides 24-7 crisis shelter, but we also work on trying to provide the youth that come to us for help with all of the information and support they need so they can eventually live independently,” said Sheiner. This includes having a high school on site so youth can finish their diplomas, and a culinary arts program to help them learn life and job skills.
With the many extreme cold warnings Toronto has faced this winter so far, homelessness and the lack of shelters has been a prominent issue in the city. According to the City of Toronto’s website, daily shelters have occupancy rates of 93 per cent for men, 99 per cent for women and youth, and 100 per cent for families. “By making a very small contribution, it can make a very lasting impact, and that’s the goal for us,” said Khan. “We want to affect as many lives as we can.” Engineers Without Borders Ryerson will continue holding events throughout the month. @ashleyjaynep
RSU to go to court with men’s issues group MADDIE BINNING RYERSONIAN
Members of the Men’s Issue Awareness Society (MIAS) were to go up against the Ryerson Students’ Union in court today, after being rejected for campus group status in 2015. The MIAS will have its case heard alongside two other student groups, one from the University of Toronto Mississauga and the other from Durham College and University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT). The other cases, which centre on pro-life ideology, were consolidated with the MIAS case in February last year. MIAS founder Kevin Arriola and social media executive Alex Godlewski filed the lawsuit in April 2016 after they ran out of appeals with the RSU. The groups will be represented in court by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. Arriola applied for MIAS’ official student group status at the RSU in October 2015. They were later rejected due to a lack of protections in the group’s constitution against violent men’s rights activism, among other concerns, according to a document sent to Arriola with the notice of rejection. @mgbinning
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Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Rye struts its design flair Architecture students to build a winter station NOELLA OVID RYERSONIAN
Ryerson is one of three design schools chosen to showcase artwork at the fourth annual Winter Stations International Design Competition. The competition was open to designers around the world to submit proposals to produce pieces of artwork that adorn the lifeguard stations in The Beaches neighbourhood in Toronto. The installations will be up for six weeks from Feb. 19 to April 1. Fourth-year architectural science students Adrian Chiu, Arnel Espanol and Henry Mai designed Nest to go along with this year’s theme of RIOT. “The main concept for ours was this idea of how in this world today, there’s so much chaos and a lot of you are bombarded with so much information. “So, our idea for our winter station was trying to create this
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exterior that was very chaotic and about how life is very messy, and then when you enter the inside, it is more calm and orderly – it’s an area where you could view the world in a more clear lens,” said Chiu. A blind jury of design professionals examined 300 global submissions before selecting proposals from three Canadian design schools and four international teams. OCAD University and the University of Guelph are the other academic university teams representing the local design and art institutions, along with Ryerson. “This year, we wanted to pick a theme that would elicit responses that were somewhat in tune with the political and ideological issues that we’ve been dealing with throughout the world,” said Aaron Hendershott, one of the founders. “We were looking for proposals that were somewhat disruptive, whether that meant that they were a riot of colour or
provided opportunities for the public to engage in dialogue, or to interact with these public artworks in new ways.” The team is in the process of building prototypes for Nest, which will have a curvilinear shape along with webbing and straps woven around the exterior. The interior of the installation will include burlap covered in white paint to create a more unified and calm effect. Viewers will also have a chance to climb up the lifeguard station within the installation and peer through its oculus. Winners were given an honorarium of $3,500 for the design fee and $1,500 for artist and travel expenses, if applicable. “Because we’re all in fourthyear, this is a really big project because we’re leaving and the opportunity to represent Ryerson in such a big event is just a really good opportunity,” said Chiu.
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Wednesday, January 24, 2018
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Cash-strapped students face a hungry reality SWIKAR OLI RYERSONIAN
It’s tough to feed the mind over a gnawing stomach. Yet, for a lot of students with financial struggles, hunger is a painful reality that strains both brain and body. Among Ryerson students, almost one in 10 experience “extreme food access issues,” according to a 2016 report from Meal Exchange, which compiled surveys from five Canadian campuses over 16 months, based on 4,500 responses from students. The report — comprising the largest national survey on the issue of food insecurity to date — shed light on the prevalence of hunger on campus, showing 39 per cent of students had trouble accessing nutritious food in the last 12 months. The report blames inadequate access to healthy food on students financial constraints. Major barriers facing food insecure students include the cost of housing, food and tuition. Usually, when the bills pile up, food is
the first necessity people waive. “There aren’t a lot of things that you can scrimp on, and because food comes in a wide range of prices, you can cut back to a certain extent — and load up on cheap calories — but that’s not a healthy way to go,” said Rena Mendleson, professor of nutrition at Ryerson’s School of Nutrition. “That can make you anemic,” she added. The Meal Exchange study shows nearly one in four “food insecure” students reported that the problem has impacted their physical health. Healthy eating is the keystone that all other aspects of mental and physical wellbeing rest upon, according to Mendleson. “Adequate diet, adequate sleep, adequate physical activity (affects the brain’s) ability to learn, to remember things and express them,” she said. Twenty per cent of students in the Meal Exchange survey said trouble accessing nutritious food also compromised their mental health. One pain associated with hunger is the wrenching bodily distress that an empty stomach can cause. Shame is yet another one.
“It’s incredibly isolating to be the one person that can’t afford to eat or to go out,” said Kim Vaz, the operations co-ordinator at the Good Food Centre (GFC), a food bank for the school’s staff and students. The GFC provided food relief to over 600 members, according to its 2014-2015 hunger report, the latest year for which numbers were made available. Students and faculty who show campus ID receive 10 “points” a week to get food. Having dependants under 18 adds five additional points. One point gets: a jar of peanut butter; pasta; a jar of pasta sauce; ground chicken; half a carton of eggs; a litre of milk; two boxes of Kraft Dinner. Adding potatoes, onions and carrots are usually four for a point, said Vaz. Last week, eight baby cucumbers cost a single point. Ten points translates to about three days worth of food, Vaz estimates, although some crafty members can stretch it an extra day or two with some creative mix-and-match. The GFC receives its weekly shipments from the Daily Bread Food Bank, the largest food bank in Canada. The content
varies, but it usually includes 15 dozen eggs and 24 litres of milk, along with an assortment of canned goods, ground meats and jars of peanut butter. The GFC has to pay for the delivery cost: $15 weekly, plus a $275 annual fee, Vaz said. Each week, the GFC receives anywhere from 75 to 100 visits, Vaz estimates. At times when the eggs and milk run out, Vaz dips into the operating budget and asks Oakham Café to add a few extra cartons of egg and litres of milk to their orders. Mendleson advises any belt-tightening student to look for friends that are “like-minded in terms of labour and cost.” Having potlucks or dinner groups instead of hitting bars can cut down on the price of going out. Strategic meal planning and shopping can also help, including buying in bulk with a group of friends, she suggests. “It’s also useful to think about, ‘What are the cheapest fruits and vegetables you can get?’ Frozen ones are often cheaper, and fresher, and picked at the peak of their freshness, as compared to fresh fruits and vegetables, so there are many ways of getting those foods without having to get
It’s incredibly isolating to be the one person that can’t afford to eat or to go out. — Kim Vaz
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Wednesday, January 24, 2018
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AUGUSTINE NG | RYERSONIAN
the freshest or the Whole Foods version,” Mendleson said. Maleeha Alvi, a recent Ryerson graduate, had similar money problems that students face during her time as an engineering major. On the late nights during exam season when people don’t usually pack lunches, she said: “The moment you try to go outside and buy something, the cheapest food you’ll find is what, a sub? For six, seven dollars — and that’s not always cheap — it adds up.” So together with a friend, Alvi came up with an app — set to release this spring — that aims to offer restaurant and baked goods at up to half off the original price, to keep the food from becoming waste. Eatonomy, out of the Social Innovation Zone in Ryerson, echoes another Ryerson-based startup, Feedback. Launched in September, the app lets restaurants put up deep discounts during slow hours to encourage thrifty diners. “Everyone needs groceries, and you know everyone goes out and buys them,” Alvi said. She says she set out with the goal to help “low income families, people like us — students — and people looking for good deals.”
ANNA CIANNI | RYERSONIAN
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Arts & Life
Virtual reality at the Gladstone ryersonian.ca Wednesday, January 24, 2018
The fine line between violence and spectacle SAMUEL STAPLES RYERSONIAN
In The Bomb Party, or What Goes Up, Grayson Alabiso-Cahill has created a profoundly compelling mediation on the relationship between violence and spectacle, and the absurdity of war. Alabiso-Cahill, a fourth-year Ryerson photography student, created the exhibition as part of his senior thesis project following a particularly jarring experience that occurred this past summer. On Victoria Day, Alabiso-Cahill found himself shooting off fireworks with his friends at a local park when, seemingly out of nowhere, a kid rolled up on his bike and began to shoot Roman candles at the group. “That moment for me, in retrospect, was really important – seeing this convergence between violence and spectacle in such a weird way,” Alabiso-Cahill says. Following the incident, Alabiso-Cahill found himself becoming increasingly interested in the relationship between violence and spectacle and thinking of other ways in which the two might meet. Thus, The Bomb Party, or What Goes Up began initially as a research project, as Alabiso-Cahill found himself reading works by German artists Hito Steyerl and Wolfgang Tillmans, on the relationships between art and capital, and becoming more interested in explosives, war and the military-industrial complex.
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Sports
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From Rams rink to Olympic ice ANDERS MARSHALL RYERSONIAN
With news of North and South Korea creating a united women’s hockey roster at the 2018 Winter Olympics, Ryerson women’s hockey alumna and South Korean player, Danelle Im, is caught in the middle of history. Im will be part of a hockey team that unites sworn geo-political enemies, at a time when international tensions are especially high. When Im, a Canadian-Korean, was recruited via the internet to play for South Korea (host of this year’s Games), she had no idea her situation would become even stranger. On Jan. 17, the BBC reported that high-ranking officials from both countries met at Panmunjom, a village which acts as a point of truce between the two countries, to discuss plans to unite the teams and allow North Korean cheerleaders, musicians and taekwondo athletes to cross into South Korea to participate in Olympic events. The Korea Ice Hockey Association announced its men’s roster late Thursday night. Three days later, Thomas
COURTESY ALEX D’ADDESE
Danelle Im
COURTESY ALEX D’ADDESE
Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), confirmed that 22 North Korean athletes will compete across three sports at the Games. The IOC called the announcement the Olympic Korean Peninsula Declaration, which will send North Korean athletes, officials and media to the opening ceremonies to march under a united Korean flag. North Korean athletes will now participate in women’s hockey, figure skating, short track speed skating, cross country and alpine skiing. The announcement makes what is already an exotic experience for Im a real milestone in sporting, and possibly international, history. “This is a crucial time and I think the last thing (the South Korean women’s hockey team)
wants right now is distraction,” Im said before the IOC confirmed the unification of the roster. “We just want to focus on our games
three must be North Korean, will play in each game. Team selection is at the discretion of South Korean head coach
I just want to make Korea proud and do my best on and off the ice. — Danelle Im and practices.” The unified women’s hockey team increases in size to 35 players to include 12 North Korean players. Given the possible competitive advantage of a larger roster, the IOC ruled that only 22 players, of which a minimum of
Sarah Murray. Ahead of the IOC’s announcement, Murray told the Canadian Press that she has mixed feelings about the idea to add North Koreans to the team. Murray said there could be “damage” to her players if the joint roster was assembled.
Im said she could sympathize with coach Murray’s views regarding the well-being of the South Korean players. “I can see where (Murray) is coming from,” Im said. “I understand the symbolic importance of this issue and I hope that the political decision makers do think about how hard the South Korean players have worked.” Im also added, “It is late in the game to be adding new players. To have this possibility within 21 days (of the games starting) is not the best for us, but we’ll make it work. Whatever happens, we’ll make the most of it.” No other changes were made to the unified Korean women’s hockey roster. Im spoke with the Ryersonian from the South Korean women’s team training camp in Jincheon, approximately 90 kilometres southwest of Seoul, South Korea’s capital city. The team recently returned from a training camp and exhibition games in Vadnais Heights, Minn., where Im said the team learned a lot from the trip. Last April, The Color of Hockey reported that Im, “was one of several hockey players with Korean-sounding last names and living in North America who received invites to help the Asian nation quickly build Olympic-level women’s and men’s ice hockey from teams almost from scratch.” Im said her improbable path to the 2018 Olympic Games has made her thankful to be part of the team. “(This opportunity is) truly a gift,” she said. “I just want to make Korea proud and do my best on and off the ice. “It’s been a great journey with this team and I’m really thankful to be here. My goal is to give it 100 per cent, be a good teammate and have a good time.” @_AndersM
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Editorial
Read more Opinions online ryersonian.ca Wednesday, January 24, 2018
EDITORIAL
New term, new team, new focus The start of the new year can be a solid refresh for some and just a flip of a calendar page for others. For those reading this at Ryerson, let this edition of the Ryersonian be your official indication of the start of second semester, or the last round of 12 weeks for future graduates. All around campus, students are bustling to class from their commute, struggling to make that trek up the SLC front steps while checking their phones and holding a coffee in the other hand. Either way, all the engines are up and running again. In that same rhythm, the Ryersonian newsroom has picked up in full force again. In this term’s first paper, I am honoured to introduce the new Ryersonian masthead. As a big family of journalists, we each bring a speciality to our publication and we hope you take the time to dig in to all the things news, student-life, events and campus related we have to offer. We hope to maintain the classic Ryersonian reputation, while also being sure you stay in the loop, have your voices heard and your issues brought to light. If you work with us, we will work for you. We encourage any member of the Ryerson community to suggest tips or reach out to us on social media. We connect to our devices and refresh our feeds as much as you do, which is why this week’s running theme for the op-ed section
is centred on social media. Social media can be a great tool for many reasons. It helps us to hold our ties with old friends, new friends, employers, news updates, memes and everything in between. But just like anything that can be beneficial, it also has it setbacks. While we can erase a post from our personal feeds, we do not have that same power to erase our followers’ memories, or the screenshots they already passed around in their group chats. As we have all grown to realize, social media is highly influential and it is important we recognize the harms that come from it. The team here at the Ryersonian chose to start our term with this theme to bring the awareness that, like you, we are young, tired and busy, and might not always give things a second thought before acting (or in this case, posting). Our publication will go above and beyond to give each story and piece of journalism we put out there more than just a second thought to help serve you with integrity, diversity, clarity and nothing but the facts. We are excited to get down to business and we hope you tag along for the journey. Stay tuned for more from the Ryersonian masthead on our webpage, social media accounts, podcast and broadcast channels.
SAWYER BOGDAN| RYERSONIAN
OPINION
The effects of social media KAYLA PAIXAO RYERSONIAN
It’s Monday night and you’re scrolling through your Instagram feed one last time before you head to bed. Suddenly, you scroll past a picture of a girl. She looks to be about 100 pounds, tall, tanned and has perfect skin. Why don’t you look like that? Your skin is flawed, you’re five feet two inches tall with a curvy build — you’re definitely not 100 pounds. You always want what you can’t have. This happens to me almost every night and, with all the different platforms social media offers, it’s hard to avoid. Social media is a tool that is constantly running in the background of our lives. With our constant need to share, retweet, like and reblog, we are always connected. I grew up in a generation where I don’t need to wait to get home to be connected. It’s around me all day, I’ve always had problems when it comes to my mental health. My
struggle with mental illness is not something that I openly talk about, but it has been part of my life for years. Depression and anxiety has become something so normal to me that I sometimes forget not everyone struggles with it the same way. To a lot of people, it’s a foreign subject. Some will never know what it’s like to be so crippled by anxiety that you can’t move from your bed. At times, I feel like I’m suffocating in my own sadness. I’m constantly beating myself up, telling myself that there is no reason for me to feel this sad all the time. There are times where I can’t eat or sleep. I lie in bed and I stare at the walls because I can’t bring myself to do anything else. Dealing with anxiety and depression are two of the hardest things I have ever faced. Think of anxiety and depression being on two opposite ends of the spectrum. With depression: I am always exhausted, both mentally and physically. Although anxiety is also a vicious beast: it tends to hit me out
of nowhere, but it takes the wind out of me every single time. Depression involves never caring about anything at all, and anxiety is about caring way too much. My relationship with social media is complicated. I don’t think that social media is the reason for my mental illnesses, but I do think that Instagram and Twitter have influenced how I see myself. Would I have issues with my mental health if I were totally disconnected from the online world? Probably. Would my issues with body image be as bad as they are if I weren’t on social media? Probably not. It’s hard to be on Instagram and always feel like you must look a certain way. Even posting one simple picture comes with hours of anxiety. I never feel comfortable in my own skin and there isn’t a day where I don’t look in the mirror and point out things I want to change. What I tell myself is that I’m not alone. I’m not the only one that struggles with posting their “real” self on platforms like Instagram. Right?
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Voices
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Getting back in the grind Read more online Wednesday, January 24, 2018
The ugly truth about dementia ‘While I was trying not to panic, I just saw blankness in her eyes — she genuinely thought I was her new nurse.’
JULIA LLOYD RYERSONIAN
Last summer, I knew nothing about my grandma’s condition. My aunt only chose to tell me that she was getting sick and her memory was getting worse. That’s not so bad, right? I mean, “all old people get sick and eventually forget things,” I told myself. But the truth about her condition was much worse than I was ready for. It was the month of July when my aunt told me that my grandma had been admitted into Markham Stouffville Hospital. My aunt never said why or how bad her condition was. All I got was a text with fewer than 10 words. I kept asking more questions, but I never got a full answer. My papa had died a year ago that month and, since then, my grandma had been lost. My papa was her rock, and mine too. I knew my grandma would have a hard time with his death, but I never expected this to come from it. One morning in July, I had arranged with my aunt to visit my
grandma. I was nervous; I hadn’t seen her since Christmas, which was our first one without papa. But she was not sick and nothing seemed off about her during the holidays. So in my head I didn’t imagine it to be a big deal. I just considered it to be something that comes with old age. The whole ride there I kept trying to guess what her “sickness” could be. My best guess was skin cancer, since I remember she had it when I was younger. I was wrong — so wrong. I finally got to the hospital at two in the afternoon. I managed to get myself into the hallway where her room was located. I took a deep breath and walked in. She was sitting in a chair watching TV. My first words were, “Hi Grandma, I missed you so much.” Her first words were, “Are you my new nurse?” In an instant I felt an anxiety attack coming on as my body temperature rapidly began to rise. My hand was shaking and I couldn’t get a word out. While I was trying not to panic, I just saw blankness
COURTESY JULIA LLOYD
Julia Lloyd’s grandma referred to her papa as “my rock.”
COURTESY JULIA LLOYD
Julia Lloyd with her papa and grandma after her Grade 8 graduation in 2011.
in her eyes. She genuinely thought I was her new nurse. I didn’t answer and instead said, “Could you hold on one moment?” I left the room and went into the hallway. I called my mom and started to cry. My mom told me to just go with the flow — something I suck at very much. I walked back into my grandma’s room and she looked at me and said, “You look like my granddaughter Julia.” Finally, she remembered me. I responded, “Yes, Grandma, it is me.” She looked shocked. Like I had just told her I was a ghost. She started to cry and I started to cry. We started to talk like normal until she randomly got up and asked a nurse walking by when
she would be done her shift. One moment she was here with me, the next she thought she was a nurse. The nurse looked at me and then back at my grandma. “Soon, Mary, so just go sit back down,” she replied. Yet again I didn’t know how to respond. How did she go from being OK to not OK in less than two minutes? But like my mom said, I went with the flow. Eventually, my grandma brought up my papa. She asked: “When is papa coming back?” “Soon, grandma,” I said, though I knew he would never be coming back. She continued on to her next question, asking me when I would
be entering high school and if I was excited. I responded, “Next year,” even though I was actually entering my second year of university. Somewhere in the middle of that conversation, with a blink of an eye, she switched back to herself again. Through this, I learned that having love for someone is also having the patience to care for them when they are in need. That day I stayed for two hours. I was a nurse, a friend, a granddaughter and my 13-yearold self in the span of those two hours. And either way, I would be anyone my grandma wanted if that meant she would be happy. @JULIALLOYDD
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R yersonian
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Campus Connection
Campus Comment
Full story available at Ryersonian.ca
What’s your biggest social media pet peeve? “Being left on read in the DM’s. AKA when you slide in and you fail.”
– Brandon Aben
Social media plays a vital role in a student’s everyday life. Platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat are used to stay informed, communicate with family and friends, and share memories. Social media is a powerful tool that can also create a lot of problems. For this week’s issue, the newsroom has put an emphasis on the use of social media in 2018, and how it affects us.
Jack Hopkins
Managing Editor Digital Miriam Valdes-Carletti
Managing Editor Video Zeinab Saidoun
Managing Editor Audio Sawyer Bogdan
Managing Editors Engagement Kathleen Francisco Jessica Valeny
Arts & Life Editors
Photo & Graphic Editors Augustine Ng Anna Cianni Amanda Skrabucha
Trevor Hewitt Sam Staples
Copy Editors
Sports Editor
Samantha Cumerlato Melissa Verge
Anders Marshall
Op-Ed Editor Chelsea Lecce
Features Editors Adriana Parente Maddie Binning
5 - 6:30 p.m. Ryerson Career Centre
South Sudan: Uncovering human rights abuses through media
Justice Michael Tulloch at Ryerson 12 - 2 p.m. Tecumseh Auditorium (SCC, 115)
The consequences of social media
Noella Ovid Jack Hopkins
#MeToo, What Now: Addressing sexual harrassment in the workplace
Jan. 25:
– Faryal Tahiri
News Editors
Jan. 24:
6:30 - 8:30 p.m. George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre
“I hate when people post photos of their parents on Facebook and wish them a happy birthday but they don’t even have them on Facebook.”
Managing Editor Print
Events
Video Producer Brandon Buechler
Audio Producers Rachel Arhin
“Trolls behind the computer who act tough but in person they’re little wimps.”
Jan. 26:
– Romi Sahel
Canadian Jewish Experience Exhibit 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. Student Learning Centre
Reporters
Instructors
Amanda Woodrow Ashley Puch Jenna Miguel Kayla Paixao Nida Omar Olivia Maeder Prescylla Mizinga Rasha Rehman Swikar Oli
Peter Bakogeorge Sonya Fatah
Publisher Janice Neil
Ad Sales Support Julia Dodge
Production Co-ordinator/Ad Sales Steven Goetz 416-979-5000 ext. 7424
Contact Us We would like to hear from you. Please include your name, program and year. Unsigned letters will not be published. We reserve the right to edit letters for length. Ryerson University 80 Gould Street Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3 Newsroom: 416-979-5323 Email: sonian@ryerson.ca
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